The morning near Dojran began with a siren. A car with Gevgelija plates had flipped on the road near Đopčeli, and inside it - a woman trapped in the cabin, unable to get out on her own. What followed was an hour-and-a-half race against time, from 05:30 to 06:55, as three fire crews pried her out of metal that no longer looked like a vehicle.

The call to 112, reporting that there were people trapped in the overturned „Berlingo," drew a response from the three nearest units - from Gevgelija, Valandovo and Dojran. Once on scene, the Gevgelija team finished the rescue. The trapped woman was successfully pulled out and, fortunately, walked away with only minor injuries.

The inspection at the scene was carried out by the Gevgelija police station, which will establish how one vehicle ended up on its roof on a straight, open road. But one thing is already clear from the number itself: an hour and a half. That's how long it took to get one person out of one vehicle on the Dojran road.

Anyone who has driven those stretches knows that the distance between a call and the arrival of the crews is often greater than we like to admit. This time the story ended in minor injuries and relief. But how many times will we get that lucky, and how long will we wait before rescue no longer depends on which crew happened to be closer?