The Shtip area is burning again - and again, the authorities say, not on its own. The fire between the Shtip villages of Dolani and Ljuboten has been brought under control, and crews from the Territorial Fire Unit intervened again this morning where embers were still smouldering. According to initial estimates, 20 to 30 hectares of low vegetation and part of a pine forest burned down.

Yesterday 18 firefighters, 14 volunteers, and residents of Dolani took part in the firefighting, and the Directorate for Protection and Rescue also deployed a firefighting plane that dropped water from the air twice. Heavy machinery cut firebreaks to stop the fire reaching the houses. One local who helped fight the fire was injured with burns on his legs and was immediately taken to hospital.

„The fire is currently in a gorge, terrain inaccessible to firefighters. Around noon, when the temperatures rise, we'll see whether it flares up again," the unit commander said. The crews stay in the field until the afternoon, on standby in case the embers reignite.

And here's the detail that mustn't get lost in the statistics: according to the Crisis Management Centre, the fire was deliberately set by two people. This is the third major fire in the Shtip area in just a few days. When a fire doesn't come from the sun but from someone's hand, the question is no longer meteorological - it's who answers for it, and why the same story repeats every summer with the same indifference.