The air around you is supposed to be something you don’t have to think about. You step outside, take a breath, get on your motorcycle, and go to work. Simple, right?
But in parts of Indonesia right now, even taking a normal breath has become uncomfortable. We have talked about it earlier, but some things need to be talked about more.
Thick haze from forest and peatland fires is covering parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, and smoke has crossed into Malaysia and put Singapore on alert.
The fires are growing as a strong El Niño brings longer, drier conditions. For people living close to the flames, this isn’t just an environmental story, it’s becoming a daily problem.
Smoke Is Part of Everyday Life
In Kalimantan, some residents can barely see a few meters ahead because of the haze. Suwadi, a resident who works near one of the affected areas, described breathing the smoky air as being “like smoking a cigarette.”
That gives you a pretty clear picture of how bad things have become. The health impact is already showing up.
In West Kalimantan, about 5,000 people have reportedly been visiting emergency rooms with respiratory symptoms every week since July, up from around 500 per week earlier in the year.
People still have to work and children still have to study, so daily life doesn’t simply stop because the air is dirty.
But some schools have suspended classes or moved learning online, and parents are especially worried about babies, older people, and pregnant women.
The problem isn’t staying in Indonesia either. Smoke from fires in Kalimantan has crossed into Malaysia and Brunei, and in Sarawak, hundreds of schools have closed because of hot, dry conditions and poor air quality.
Singapore has also put its haze response plans on alert. According to IQAir, Kuala Lumpur was ranked as the world’s most polluted major city on Tuesday, followed by Jakarta.
A fire burning far away can affect the air you breathe hundreds of kilometers from where it started. Fire may begin in one field or forest, but smoke doesn’t care about borders.
El Niño Is Giving More Fuel
Indonesia’s fire season isn’t new. Every year, dry weather creates a higher risk of forest and land fires. But this year has another problem sitting in the driver’s seat which is a strong El Niño.
El Niño can bring drier conditions to Indonesia and leave forests, grasslands, and especially peatlands much easier to burn. Experts warn the situation could worsen as the dry season continues into October.
Significant rainfall may not arrive until November. The numbers are already worrying. Forestry Ministry data shows nearly 94,000 hectares of land burned across Indonesia in July alone.
South Sumatra detected 1,429 fire hotspots, the highest among the country’s provinces, while West Kalimantan had 1,226 and Central Kalimantan recorded 811. Peatlands make everything harder.
These areas naturally hold large amounts of water, which keeps them from burning. But drainage systems built for plantations can dry the peat out, and once that happens, fires can move deep underground instead of spreading across the surface.
Justin Sentian, a climate change professor at Universiti Malaysia Sabah, says this makes peat fires particularly difficult to control. His argument is straightforward.
If authorities only react after hotspots appear, they’re always going to be chasing the problem. The issue isn’t just putting out flames, it’s also keeping peatlands wet and restoring damaged areas.
There is also a human factor. Fires in Indonesia have often been linked to land clearing practices, including burning vegetation to prepare land for plantations.
Authorities have arrested 72 people suspected of starting fires, and four companies are under investigation. President Prabowo Subianto has also ordered authorities to revoke business permits from corporations suspected of directing illegal land clearing.
So yes, the weather matters, but weather isn’t the whole story.
Creativity and Prayers
When rain doesn’t arrive, firefighters have to get creative. Authorities have deployed personnel, helicopters, water pumps, and aircraft across the affected regions.
In South Sumatra, the response has even included something deeply familiar to many Indonesians: praying for rain.
On August 25, around 3,000 residents gathered in Palembang to perform salat istisqa, a special prayer asking for rain, while thick smoke covered the city and motorists had to use their headlights during the day because visibility was so poor.
Technology and emergency crews were fighting the fires, and communities were also hoping for help from above. Aircraft are doing the heavy lifting.
Helicopters are being used for water bombing, while other aircraft support cloud-seeding operations, since the goal is simple: if suitable clouds are available, authorities can try to encourage rainfall over affected areas.
Ground teams still matter too. Firefighters, disaster agencies, police, military personnel, Manggala Agni, and local communities are working together to contain the flames.
Water pumps are also being used, though some fire locations have limited water supplies, which has led officials to consider more bore wells and other water sources.
In Central Kalimantan alone, authorities recorded at least 1,464 forest and land fire incidents between January and August 18, burning about 3,896 hectares.
The response is large, but so is the problem, and with the dry season still going, firefighters may have a long way to go.
Forest Fire is Danger for Everything
The most worrying part is that the fires aren’t only damaging forests. They’re putting wildlife, communities, and neighboring countries under pressure at the same time.
Kalimantan’s forests and peatlands are home to some of Indonesia’s most important wildlife, and fires have threatened orangutan habitats, including areas around rehabilitation centers.
In one case, a fire came close to a center in Ketapang that houses more than 60 Bornean orangutans, and another reached the edge of Sungai Putri forest, an important peatland habitat for hundreds of orangutans.
For these animals, losing forests means losing food and shelter, and smoke can affect their health too. They can’t simply pack a suitcase and move somewhere cooler.
The same problem appears elsewhere in Indonesia. Fires in Sumatra are producing haze, while communities in places such as Palembang deal with poor visibility and unhealthy air.
And this isn’t the first time Indonesia has faced something like this, since some of the country’s worst fire seasons have happened during El Niño years.
In 2015, more than 6 million acres burned, and haze spread across Malaysia and Singapore. That history is why people are nervous about what happens next.
For now, Indonesia is using almost everything available, from cloud seeding and community action such as Istiqa’ prayer. Most recently, the president even suggested using sweet potato flour to put the flames down.
What will happen next?
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