Raja Eben Lumbanrau
BBC Indonesia

Wildfires are not uncommon in Indonesia, this year however, the "Godzilla" El Niño will likely exacerbate the calamity.

Last year, without El Niño forest fires torched a 359,00-hectare area, says Professor Bambang Hero Saharjo, a forest fire forensics expert from Institut Pertanian Bogor University.

This year, El Niño could burn an area as big as 10 million to 11 million hectares, Prof Bambang says, citing research reports.

Based on the forecast of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency or BMKG, this year's dry season will run from July to September.

BMKG also predicts that El Niño phenomenon will persist until early 2027.

Tessa Wong
Asia Digital Reporter, in Singapore

Singapore's meterological authorities have warned that the southern part of South East Asia will likely see dry conditions in the next few days,with a "continued risk of severe transboundary haze".

"The hotspot and smoke haze situation is expected to stay elevated in fire-prone regions experiencing prolonged dry conditions", said the National Environment Agency (NEA) in an update posted this morning.

But the haze is likely to be "subdued" in the northern regions of South East Asia, as well as the central parts of Borneo and the northern parts of Peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia's Sumatra island. These areas will see wet weather in the coming days, according to the NEA.

Quinawaty Pasaribu
Reporting from Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan

Image source, BBC/Andra Anhar

I have spent half a day in Kalimantan now.

In Landasan Ulin Utara the wildfire response remained in full swing. Water-bombing helicopters repeatedly flew overhead, dropping water on peatland fires that continue to smolder underground.

At one point, I thought a new fire had broken out, but firefighters told me the smoke was coming from a peatland hotspot rather than active flames.

Parts of the protected forest have burned since early August, and crews are working daily to cool the peat soil and prevent the fires from reigniting.

The air quality had improved to the "moderate" category. Unlike the heavy haze I encountered earlier in the day, there was no visible smoke hanging over the city center and I could no longer smell wildfire smoke, except near active hotspots.

Around the city, I noticed very few people wearing masks. A handful of volunteers were still handing out free masks to passing motorists, but daily life appeared to be continuing as normal. I also spent most of the day without my mask, only putting it on when I came across pockets of thicker smoke.

Gavin Butler
Reporting from Singapore

Image source, Ahmad Dhani for BBC

What makes Indonesian Borneo's wildfires particularly worrying is that they are burning through one of the world’s largest tropical peatland ecosystems.

Under normal conditions, these peatlands serve as gigantic carbon reservoirs. But under abnormal conditions, such as those currently hitting the region, they can become carbon "bombs".

"Peatlands are incredibly effective carbon stores because their waterlogged conditions slow decomposition, allowing carbon to accumulate underground for thousands of years," explains Dr Nisa Novita, a peatland researcher at Indonesian conservation NGO Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara.

"But this also means they can become a ‘carbon bomb’ when they are drained or burned, because that carbon can be rapidly released into the atmosphere."

Indonesia's tropical peatlands are among the world’s most effective natural carbon stores. As Dr Nisa points out: “the deeper the peat, the greater the carbon stock – and in Kalimantan, we have found peat deposits that can exceed 20 meters in depth.”

A peatland that deep has been known to harbour more than 6,000 tonnes of carbon – roughly equivalent to the annual CO₂ emissions of 4,800 cars – per hectare. Scientists fear that, once the peatlands go up in flames, that ancient carbon could be dumped into the atmosphere very quickly.

Quinawaty Pasaribu
Reporting from Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan

Image source, BBC Andra/Anhar

Kasman, a 69-year-old tropical fruit farmer, has spent nearly a decade cultivating a four-hectare orchard in Landasan Ulin Utara, South Kalimantan.

Today, he can only stare at what remains: a scorched landscape where rambutan, papaya, citrus, longan, avocado, petai and coconut trees once grew.

The fire broke out on the afternoon of 17 August. Kasman said he was tending to livestock when his child ran to him crying and shouting that a fire had erupted behind their home. By the time he returned, the flames had already spread.

"The fire was already huge," he recalled. Within days, the blaze had consumed all four hectares of his orchard.

Kasman estimates the losses at hundreds of millions of rupiah, or at least $5,000. Yet standing among the charred remains of his farm, he expressed more resignation than anger.

"Of course I'm disappointed, but what can I do?" he said. "We just have to start over and work again."

More than two weeks after the fire began, smoke was still rising from parts of the land. While the flames had largely subsided, the damage was already done.

Asked whether he felt angry about losing the orchard he had spent years building, Kasman paused before answering: "Who am I supposed to be angry at? This is the situation we're in."

Many of the fires in Indonesia have been located in Kalimantan on Borneo island, but we're seeing some active fires in Sumatra and Java as well. Here's a map of the latest fires in the last 24 hours.

A thick, toxic smog is enveloping some of Indonesia's biggest islands and spreading to neighbouring Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, as weeks-long fires continue to burn.

If you're just joining us, here's what you need to know:

• The haze has forced the closure of schools in Banjarbaru, one of Indonesia's worst-hit cities, where a teaching assistant tells the BBC conditions became so bad “you couldn't even see your own feet” through the smoke
• A young mother in Banjarbaru tells the BBC her three-year-old daughter has developed "a cough, a sore throat and a runny nose" as the haze entered their house
• Indonesia’s Health Ministry has recorded over 50,000 cases of respiratory infections between July and August that were linked to land and forest fires, and thousands have been admitted to hospital
• Many of the fires are in Indonesia's part of Borneo, a huge island shared with Malaysia and Brunei. In Sarawak, Malaysia's side of the Island, the Air Pollution Index (IPI) in several areas has been "unhealthy"
• In the Philippine province of Palawan, north of the Indonesian wildfires and south of Manila, residents reported a "burnt smell" amid an intensifying haze that's causing headaches and irritation to eyes and throats
• Singapore is also nervously eyeing the level of air pollution, with government and retailers stockpiling N95 masks, and schools making plans to minimise outdoor activities

Stay with us as we bring you more updates from the disaster front, as well as the various affected areas across the region.

Image source, Jennifer Kang

Earlier this week the BBC's Asia Specific podcast spoke to a Malaysian woman visiting Kuching in Malaysia's Sarawak state.

Sarawak borders Indonesia's Kalimantan where many of the fires are located.

Jennifer Kang said the haze was so bad as her plane descended on the runway on Sunday afternoon: "We could not see anything below us".

What struck Kang was how little seems to have changed since three decades ago, when she was working in Kuching.

She recalled the 1997 haze crisis which "just went on for a long time where we felt like we couldn't see the sky. It was really awful. The economy slowed down, tourism stopped, flights were cancelled. It was really disruptive.

"Thirty years later, we know a lot more. We know what causes the fires. We know how to prevent it better. But yet here we are today with really bad air quality [still]. This is not normal.

"The bigger question is not how we cope with the current haze situation, but what more can we do to prevent it."

We now bring you images from Palembang in South Sumatra, on an Indonesian island east of Kalimantan.

From the air, Pelambang's massive Ampera Bridge and a light rail transit station nearly disappear behind the thick haze.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Faisal Irfani
BBC Indonesia

Indonesia's forest and peatland fires are not a new phenomenon. Experts say the crisis is rooted in decades of land-use change, dating back to the Suharto era, when vast areas of rainforest and peatland in Kalimantan were opened for logging, plantations and large-scale development projects.

Today, large-scale fires are often associated with the expansion of industrial plantations and other commercial land use. Environmental groups, researchers, and government investigations have repeatedly alleged that some companies use fire as a cheap and effective way to clear vast areas of land.

Researchers argue that while drought and El Niño conditions help fires spread, the severity of the haze is also linked to human activity. Drained peatlands, industrial timber estates and oil palm plantations can leave landscapes more vulnerable to burning, with fires often recurring in the same areas.

Unlike traditional uma bukit practices, which are small-scale, community-managed, and closely monitored, fires linked to large-scale land development can be far more difficult to control and can cause environmental and public health impacts on a much larger scale.

Faisal Irfani
BBC Indonesia

Image source, Getty Images

For centuries, communities across Kalimantan have used small, controlled fires to clear land for farming. They cut vegetation, burn it carefully, and used the ash as a natural fertilizer to improve soil fertility.

Among the Dayak Kanayatn people of West Kalimantan, the practice is known as uma bukit, or hill farming. According to community representative Tono, it is not simply an agricultural activity but a tradition passed down through generations.

Plots are typically small, usually less than two hectares, and farmers must follow customary rituals before clearing land. Tono says the practice is rooted in maintaining balance with nature and giving thanks to ancestors.

After several years of cultivation, farmers move to another area and allow the previous plot to recover naturally.

Indigenous communities have often rejected accusations that their traditional farming methods are responsible for large-scale forest fires. Tono said Dayak communities are frequently used as scapegoats despite carrying out land clearing with extensive planning and caution.

Research on major wildfire episodes in 1982 and 1997 found that authorities often focused blame on small farmers and Indigenous communities rather than industrial actors operating in Kalimantan.

Liza Tambunan
Jakarta Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The most devastating forest and land fires in Indonesia in recent years occurred in 2015, the last time the country faced a "super El Niño".

According to the government, 2.6 million hectares of land across Indonesia burned between June and October that year - equivalent to four and a half times the size of Bali.

Twenty-four people died because of the fires, which spread across forest and carbon-rich peatlands, exposing millions to toxic smog.

The wildfires also created a haze crisis in South East Asia, engulfing neighbouring countries in thick smog that lasted months.

Widespread fires also occurred during subsequent El Niño years, including in 2019 and 2023, though not to the extent of 2015.

Fires in the Ketapang area of Indonesia's West Kalimantan province have blackened the ground of a palm oil plantation.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Quinawaty Pasaribu
Reporting from Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan

Misbah, a 23-year-old mother from Pengayuan village in Banjarbaru, lives near a wildfire site and has a three-year-old daughter who attends a kindergarten located just about 20 steps from burned land.

She said classes were suspended for 10 days and moved online because of the haze.

"By around 7 a.m. the smoke got even thicker. Visibility was only about two meters," she said.

Misbah said her daughter developed "a cough, a sore throat and a runny nose" during the haze, while smoke also seeped into their home despite efforts to seal openings.

"The haze got into our house. Many families sealed gaps in their homes to try to keep the smoke out."

Misbah said wildfires occur in the area every dry season and have become a recurring reality for local residents, but she described this year's fires as the worst she has experienced.

"I just hope the government can find a solution to the forest fires."

Joel Guinto
Live editor

Image source, Getty Images

Filipino meteorologists say the haze is being blown north from Indonesia to the Philippines by the "habagat".

That's the Filipino term for the monsoon, which at this time of the year is moving from the south-west of the equator.

The habagat is the same weather system that has brought torrential rain to large swathes of the Philippines for much of August, causing widespread flooding that has disrupted the lives of millions.

For Filipinos waist-deep in seasonal floods, the haze is an additional misery.

Parts of Metro Manila, Luzon and the Visayas have been affected by the haze.

Liza Tambunan
Jakarta Correspondent

Indonesia’s Health Ministry has recorded over 50,000 cases of respiratory infections between July and August that were linked to land and forest fires.

Over 12,000 of those cases are of children under the age of five.

The ministry says it has deployed hundreds of health workers to provinces that are worst-hit, as well as distributing assistance such as masks and oxygen tanks.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Malaysia has reported rising cases of asthma and conjunctivitis amid worsening air quality nationwide as smoke drifts across the border from Indonesia.

Quinawaty Pasaribu
Reporting from Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan

A kindergarten class in a wildfire-prone area of Banjarbaru, in South Kalimantan, resumed this week after being suspended for up to two weeks because of severe haze.

Rizma Nur Fatimah, a 19 year-old teaching assistant at the school, said conditions became so bad that “you couldn't even see your own feet” through the smoke.

“Even inside the house, with everything closed, the haze still got in,” she said.

While classes have resumed, Rizma said many children and their parents have suffered respiratory illnesses.

"We've been living with this since I was born. It's the same every year, so we've almost become resigned to it," Rizma said.

"But this year is worse because the winds are stronger.”

Astudestra Ajengrastri
BBC News Indonesia

Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) has expressed condolences following the death of a volunteer firefighter who was involved in efforts to combat land and forest fires in Central Kalimantan.

The volunteer, Akhmad Rijani, headed the Serbu Api firefighting team in Palangka Village, Palangka Raya.

According to local reports, Rijani collapsed while inspecting and responding to a wildfire site on Rungan Road in the Jekan Raya district. He was evacuated and received treatment at Betang Pambelum Hospital for six days before he died.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the wildfire volunteer who passed away during a forest and land fire mitigation mission in Kalimantan," BNPB acting disaster information chief Berton Panjaitan said during a press briefing yesterday.

Following the incident, Palangka Raya authorities announced mandatory health screenings for all wildfire volunteers and firefighting personnel before they begin daily operations, as large-scale land and forest fires continue to affect parts of Central Kalimantan.

Quinawaty Pasaribu
Reporting from Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan

This morning, I travelled to Banjarbaru, about an hour by car from Banjarmasin. Compared with what I experienced last night in Banjarmasin, the air quality this morning in Banjarbaru felt significantly worse.

White haze was visible throughout much of the drive into the city, and the smell of smoke was strong enough to make breathing uncomfortable. Even while wearing a high-filtration mask, I could still detect the odor from recent fires.

Some residents I passed by on the streets were wearing masks, while others went about their day without them. Despite the haze, visibility remained relatively safe. During periods of dense smoke, visibility can deteriorate dramatically to no more than five to ten meters.

At around 6:30 local time, I visited the Guntung Payung area, where parts of a thin peatland tract owned by locals appeared to have burned recently. The ground was blackened, and white smoke continuously seeped from the surface, as if a fire were still smoldering beneath the soil.

Land and forest fires around Banjarbaru, the capital of South Kalimantan, have burned about 1,263 hectares (3,120 acres) over the past two months, with some of the worst damage occurring near the city's international airport and surrounding protected forest areas.

Tessa Wong
Asia Digital Reporter, in Singapore

Image source, Getty Images

As wildfires continue to rage on in neighbouring Indonesia, Singapore is nervously eyeing the level of air pollution.

Many still remember some of the worst episodes in 2013 and 2015, when the city was blanketed by a miasma for weeks. Schools had to shut, fast food chains stopped making deliveries, and there were shortages of N95 masks.

For the last few years Singapore has managed to avoid the haze thanks to Indonesia reining in some of the worst excesses of its annual wildfires. But this year warnings that the "super El Nino" would exacerbate the situation has once again put Singapore on edge.

The government and retailers have stockpiled N95 masks, and schools have made plans to minimise outdoor activities.

Even the Formula 1 Grand Prix, which is due to host hundreds of thousands of people downtown in early October, has come up with a contingency plan, including stocking up on masks and ensuring adequate medical assistance will be on standby.