On Sunday, 4 October, by 7 p.m. the Crisis Management Centre had registered 46 open-air fires. Sixteen of them were still active, one had been brought under control and 29 had been put out. The calendar says October; the tally looks like August.

Most of the active fires are burning low vegetation, but not all. In the Debar area the fire is moving from the village of Tatar Elevci towards Korab and burning near the village of Banjište, where juniper, ferns and thorny scrub are alight. On Šar Mountain, above Lake Bogovinje, pastureland is burning. In Lipkovo two fires have hit pine forest near the villages of Matejče and Strima, in Gevgelija mixed forest is burning near Miravci, and in Čaška forest is burning near the village of Jabolčište, close to the spot known as Bikov Grob.

The list goes on: low vegetation near Toplica in Vrapčište, stubble near Medžitlija in the Bitola area, two fires near Prilep - by the data centre and above the artificial lake - several locations in Kumanovo, including the industrial zone, plus fires in Studeničani, Saraj and Dolneni. The fire near Džepište in Centar Župa, where dry grass and low forest were burning, has been brought under control.

Among the extinguished fires are two entries worth a second read. In Jurumleri, in Gazi Baba, and in the Vizbegovo neighbourhood, in Šuto Orizari, rubbish was burning. So in the capital it's not just grass that burns - the rubbish burns too.

The Crisis Management Centre says the situation is being monitored and crews are continuing to work on the ground. The firefighters will do their job. But 46 fires in a single day don't fall from the sky. How many started from someone "clearing" a field with fire, from a tossed cigarette butt or from someone's intent - and will anyone ever even establish that?