Indonesia extinguishes 3,799 ha of wildfires in six priority provinces

indonesianupdates.com_admin

2 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and joint task forces successfully extinguished 3,799.73 hectares of forest and land fires across six priority provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan between September 24 and 30, 2026.

Berton Panjaitan, acting head of the BNPB’s Disaster Data, Information, and Communication Center, stated that firefighting operations are ongoing to narrow the gap between the total burned area and the area successfully put out, particularly on peatlands.

“We are working to reduce the extent of burned land by putting out the fires,” Berton stressed virtually during a press conference on forest and land fire response in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to BNPB data, South Sumatra recorded the largest extinguished area at 1,554.46 hectares, followed by Central Kalimantan with 846 hectares and Jambi with 477.50 hectares.

Meanwhile, in West Kalimantan, extinguished fire areas reached 413.30 hectares, followed by South Kalimantan with 349.44 hectares and Riau with 96.03 hectares.

Panjaitan noted that fire conditions on the ground remain dynamic, making data on fire and extinguished areas change from time to time.

South Sumatra has become a focal point following an increase in burned land over the last two days of the monitoring period. Nevertheless, containment efforts in the province are being intensified to further narrow the gap between burned areas and those successfully extinguished.

Meanwhile, natural rainfall in Riau has helped contain the blazes, keeping the remaining active burned area relatively small.

Data from September 29 and 30, 2026, show an increase in unextinguished areas across West and Central Kalimantan. In Central Kalimantan alone, unextinguished areas expanded by more than 14 hectares compared to the previous day.

The BNPB and the joint task forces are continuing efforts to extinguish active hotspots, particularly on peatlands and underground fires that carry the potential to spread.

Operations are also carried out by prioritizing high-risk areas, including hard-to-reach terrain and zones with limited water supplies for firefighting.

As firefighting efforts continue, Panjaitan expressed hope that natural rainfall would fall soon to help reduce the number of hotspots and support efforts to control forest and land fires in high-risk areas.

The BNPB urged all stakeholders and local communities in vulnerable regions to remain on high alert for potential fires, particularly during dry weather conditions that heighten the risk of peatland blazes.