The fires, burning for three months across the Indonesian provinces of Kalimantan on Borneo, have spread a thick toxic haze across Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni warned that the worst is still ahead, with dry conditions forecast to peak this month.
Peatland Fires Burn Below the Surface
Firefighter Andri Susanto and his Manggala Agni crew have spent three exhausting months battling blazes on the outskirts of Ketapang in West Kalimantan. He says this fire season has surpassed the catastrophic 2015 season that blanketed the region in smoke.
“Conditions in 2026 are indeed worse than in 2015,” Andri said. “The impact of El Niño has been so severe across Indonesia, and water sources have begun to dry up. It’s been 60-plus … I’ve lost count of how many days without rain.”
Indonesia’s peatlands — thick layers of decaying plant matter — make extinguishing the fires notoriously difficult. Flames may not be visible on the surface, but embers can burn metres underground, flaring up days after crews believe a fire is out. Andri’s team must stand guard overnight to watch for rekindling.
“If we don’t extinguish it completely until the smoke is gone, it will spread again. It spreads underground, so it’s not visible,” Andri said.
Pontianak Disappears Under Haze
From the air, Pontianak is nearly invisible. Visibility has dropped below 1 kilometre, with morning readings as low as 200 to 500 metres, according to Septika Sari, a forecaster with Indonesia’s meteorological service BMKG.
“We can see from our PM 2.5 data, it has now entered the dangerous category … in terms of colour on the graph, it has gone to black,” she said.
Residents queue at reservoirs to collect treated water after months without rain. Fatmawati, a Pontianak resident, said the smoke is so thick it has turned collected rainwater black with dust.
“The smoke is strong. Look around: it’s dark. We’ve never experienced anything like this,” she said. “The children are sick, they’re coughing, they have runny noses.”
Health Clinics Overwhelmed as Respiratory Cases Double
At a Pontianak health clinic, Dr Muhammad Arief Tri Hapsoro has seen patient numbers roughly double compared to last year. Patients arrive with coughs, shortness of breath, sore throats, fever, diarrhoea, and vomiting.
“The haze this year is also thicker. In my view, this may be the worst year yet … it is getting worse,” Dr Arief said. He expressed particular concern for children and the elderly.
Indonesia’s Health Ministry has recorded tens of thousands of respiratory infections linked to the land and forest fires.
Haze Crosses Borders to Philippines and Malaysia
Satellite imagery shows the smoke haze stretching well beyond Indonesia. In the Philippines, more than 1,000 kilometres away, physiotherapist Yogi Villalon Jumao-as in Ronda, Cebu, noticed the sky change on September 1.
“I noticed that the air got really thick and it got really hazy and dark,” he said. “I felt like it was harder to breathe … it’s also painful to the eye if you are going to open the window.”
An air quality report by the ASMPH Center for Research and Innovation and the Breathe Metro Manila network found the Indonesian haze made Manila’s air “acutely unhealthy” between August 30 and September 2.
Malaysia declared a state of emergency in Sarawak, which borders West Kalimantan. Kuala Lumpur-based hospitality worker Serene Nazari said Malaysians have long lived with what they call “haze season,” but the severity this year stands apart.
Arrests as Investigators Target Land Clearing
Consensus among officials is that many of the fires were deliberately lit. Indonesia’s forestry ministry is investigating and prosecuting cases of fires set to clear land for palm oil plantations and road construction. Seventy-two people were arrested in August on suspicion of starting forest fires.
The 200,000-hectare burn figure covers land scorched through July but excludes August, meaning the true extent is larger. While still below the 2015 total, the 2026 fire season is not yet over.
What Happens Next
With dry conditions forecast to peak in September, fire crews face their hardest weeks ahead. Indonesia’s government has signalled that the coming month will determine whether the 2026 season approaches or surpasses the 2015 benchmark. Cross-border pressure is building: Malaysia’s Sarawak emergency declaration and Philippine air quality warnings may prompt renewed diplomatic calls for stronger enforcement against illegal land clearing.
Watch for expanded arrests and prosecutions as the forestry ministry accelerates investigations, and for regional health ministries to coordinate responses if respiratory infections continue to climb. Rainfall patterns through October will ultimately decide when the Indonesian wildfires subside — and when Southeast Asia’s skies clear.
— Elena Petrov, climate desk, AXO News