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· collected 2026-09-07 · by Tim Swanston, Raffa Athallah, and Erwin Renaldi
Indonesian forestry minister Raja Juli Antoni has warned that the coming weeks will be the toughest for firefighters battling raging forest and land fires across the Indonesian provinces of Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. At least 200,000 hectares of land have been burned, an area nearly three times the size of Singapore, but this figure does not yet include August's burnings. Residents in Pontianak, West Kalimantan's capital, are struggling with toxic haze and drying water sources, with many families running out of drinking water due to prolonged drought. Firefighter Andri Susanto said conditions in 2026 are worse than those in 2015, citing the severe impact of El Niño on Indonesia's water sources.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
For three exhausting months, Andri Susanto and his crew have been fighting raging forest and land fires on the island of Borneo.
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Susanto → fight → Borneo
For many, it's reminiscent of 2015, a horrid fire season that led to a smoke haze and air pollution crisis across parts of South-East Asia.
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that → lead → Asia
But Andri said this time around felt different.
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time → say → ?
"Conditions in 2026 are indeed worse than in 2015," Andri said.
"
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Andri → say → 2015
The impact of El Niño has been so severe across Indonesia, and water sources have begun to dry up."
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sources → begin → Indonesia
I've lost count of how many days without rain."
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I → lose → rain
He and his crew of firefighters from Manggala Agni have just spent the past few hours bringing a fire under control on the outskirts of Ketapang in West Kalimantan.
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He → spend → Kalimantan
But these fires on Indonesia's peatlands, a type of wetland made up of thick layers of decaying dead plants, are notoriously challenging to extinguish.
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fires → make → plants
In the peatlands, flames may not be visible on the surface, but embers could still be burning metres below ground.
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embers → burn → ground
"If we don't extinguish it completely until the smoke is gone, it will spread again.
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it → extinguish → it
It spreads underground, so it's not visible," Andri said.
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Andri → spread → ?
Some of Andri's crew, weary from a hard day's work, will need to stand by overnight to watch the site in case the fire rages and flares up again.
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fire → need → case
Rampant land and forest fires have been burning for months across the Indonesian provinces of Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, with a super El Niño exacerbating drought and fire conditions across the region.
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Niño → burn → region
Indonesia's forestry minister has warned that the coming weeks will likely be the toughest for fire crews, with forecasters saying dry conditions are expected to peak this month.
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conditions → warn → crews
"The field of struggle is right here in September," Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said.
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Antoni → say → September
At least 200,000 hectares, nearly three times the size of Singapore, have been burnt across the country, but that figure does not yet include August.
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figure → burn → August
While it is still well below the amount of land that burnt in 2015, this year's fire season is yet to finish.
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season → burn → 2015
A thick shroud of toxic haze has enveloped the city, along with large swathes of the mighty island of Borneo.
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shroud → envelop → Borneo
Pontianak's residents are used to a bit of haze, but they say this is different.
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this → use → haze
Look around: it's dark," Pontianak resident Fatmawati said as she waited at a clean water distribution point.
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she → look → point
"We've never experienced anything like this."
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We → experience → this
Fatmawati was with dozens of families at a reservoir in Pontianak, queuing up to fill containers with water being treated by officials.
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Fatmawati → queue → officials
Many families, including Fatmawati, collect rainwater at home for drinking, but their supplies have run out.
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supplies → include → drinking
"There's no water … the water at home has dried up," she said.
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she → be → home
She said it had rained a little once at her house but, because of the dust from the haze on her roof, the water turned black.
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water → say → roof
"The children are sick, they're coughing, they have runny noses," she added.
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she → cough → noses
Bambang Supriyono said it had been months without rain at his home.
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it → say → home
"The water is simply gone," he said.
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he → go → ?
I feel sorry for my family.
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I → feel → family
But what can we do?
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we → do → what
At a health clinic in Pontianak, Muhammad Arief Tri Hapsoro was busily treating an influx of patients who had come in because of the haze.
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who → treat → haze
"In terms of health effects, many patients come here with coughs, then shortness of breath, sore throat, fever, diarrhoea, and vomiting," Dr Arief said.
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Arief → come → breath
"Compared to previous years, this year the number has roughly doubled from the year before.
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number → compare → year
In my view, this may be the worst year yet … it is getting worse."
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it → get → view
He said he was very worried about the health of the community, "especially the children and the elderly".
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he → say → community
Indonesia's Health Ministry has recorded tens of thousands of cases of respiratory infections, which have been linked to land and forest fires.
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which → record → fires
While the ABC was in Pontianak, an Air Quality Index monitor in the city recorded a reading of more than 900, three times the rating for hazardous air quality.
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monitor → record → quality
Septika Sari, a forecaster for Indonesia's meteorological service BMKG, said the region had not experienced rainfall in two months.
"
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region → say → months
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."
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it → see → black
Smoke haze spreads to Philippines and Malaysia
The consensus is that many of these fires were deliberately lit.
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many → spread → fires
…and 31 more, not listed.
