While the state spends years struggling to equip its own fire service, Stip has about thirty people doing the job for no pay, under no obligation and with no fuss. The Stip Volunteer Fire Society, now in its second year, is expecting a donation of protective equipment from America any day now - after these very volunteers were on the front line during the major fire on Mount Serta.

For two years, the thirty-odd volunteers have backed up the professional firefighters where it is hardest - on the unreachable terrain where off-road vehicles and an extra pair of hands decide whether the fire gets stopped or spreads. During the Serta blaze in recent days they were logistical support, but also took a direct part in the firefighting.

And here is the question almost no one asks out loud: why does protective gear for people who risk their lives arrive as a donation from abroad, rather than as something the state itself provides? The volunteers are not after recognition - they have already proven they will turn out without it. But when a society depends on the goodwill of volunteers and the generosity of a foreign country to protect the people putting out its fires for it, that says more about the priorities than any report could. This time, at least, the gear will arrive - the question is when people like this stop being the exception and become the system.