For three exhausting months, Andri Susanto and his crew have been fighting raging forest and land fires on the island of Borneo.
asserted
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.
asserted
that → lead → Asia
But Andri said this time around felt different.
asserted
time → say → ?
"Conditions in 2026 are indeed worse than in 2015," Andri said.
"
asserted
Andri → say → 2015
The impact of El Niño has been so severe across Indonesia, and water sources have begun to dry up."
asserted
sources → begin → Indonesia
I've lost count of how many days without rain."
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
fires → make → plants
In the peatlands, flames may not be visible on the surface, but embers could still be burning metres below ground.
uncertain
embers → burn → ground
"If we don't extinguish it completely until the smoke is gone, it will spread again.
asserted
it → extinguish → it
It spreads underground, so it's not visible," Andri said.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
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."
asserted
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
Arief → come → breath
"Compared to previous years, this year the number has roughly doubled from the year before.
asserted
number → compare → year
In my view, this may be the worst year yet … it is getting worse."
uncertain
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.
asserted
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.
asserted
monitor → record → quality
Septika Sari, a forecaster for Indonesia's meteorological service BMKG, said the region had not experienced rainfall in two months.
"
asserted
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."
asserted
it → see → black
Smoke haze spreads to Philippines and Malaysia
The consensus is that many of these fires were deliberately lit.
asserted
many → spread → fires
…and 31 more, not listed.
The Aporia
