Wildfire Map Spotlight: Indonesia forest and peatland fires

Where are the Indonesian wildfires burning?

As of October 1, 2026, Indonesia is experiencing ongoing widespread forest and land fires, known nationally as karhutla. The event consists of surface and underground fires burning across the archipelago, with the heaviest activity concentrated in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Another major front is in South Papua.

Many of the fires are burning in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo. West Kalimantan has recorded the largest cumulative burned area of any province, followed by Central Kalimantan and South Papua. There are additional fires burning in South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan.

What distinguishes this event from a conventional forest fire is the fuel. Indonesia holds roughly 36 percent of the world's tropical peatlands, and when those waterlogged soils are dried by drought, fire moves below the surface and smolders through deep organic deposits, producing about three times more fine particulate matter, five times more sulfur dioxide, three times more organic carbon, and twice the methane and carbon monoxide of other tropical forest fires (1).

Fire has also reached protection forests, conservation forests, and Key Biodiversity Areas, along with national parks and forest reserves stretching from the Gunung Kendeng forest area in Central Sulawesi to protected peat domes in Kalimantan.

Research on past seasons has established that these fires are overwhelmingly human-ignited, with El Niño conditions and rural land-clearing practices together explaining most of the year-to-year variation in burning (2).

Which cities or areas are affected by the wildfires?

The cities and areas affected by the Indonesia wildfires include:

• Banjarmasin and surrounding areas in South Kalimantan
• Central Kalimantan
• East Kalimantan
• Jambi
• Ketapang Regency, West Kalimantan
• Merauke Regency, South Papua
• Riau
• South Sumatra
• West Kalimantan

Smoke exposure extends well beyond the burn areas themselves. More than 12.5 million people across seven Indonesian provinces have been exposed to haze, and respiratory infections linked to the fires rose to 113,336 cases as of September 9, roughly double the 50,891 cases recorded on September 1 (3).

Throughout September, Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore have frequently ranked among the most polluted major cities in the world as wildfire haze affected the region.

Air quality map of Southeast Asia, on October 1, 2026. Source: IQAir.

What is the current containment status of the wildfires?

As of October 1, 2026, firefighting progress varies across Indonesia. Some fires have been extinguished or entered the cooling stage, while active fires and peat hotspots remain in several regions.

Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that around 3,800 hectares of forest and land fires had been extinguished between September 24 and 30, 2026 (6).

Weather remains the limiting factor. Indonesia's meteorological agency has confirmed that September is still a critical phase, with dry conditions dominant, rain cloud potential low across most of the country, and El Niño expected to persist into early 2027, meaning natural rainfall is unlikely to help extinguish the fires in the near term (7).

Between September 1 and September 7, Indonesia released 19.7 million metric tons of fire emissions, the highest of any country in the world that week and more than a third of the global total (8).

Why are Indonesia's 2026 wildfires so severe?

Indonesian authorities describe this as the most intense wildfire season in 11 years. A strong El Niño, reinforced by a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, left about 90 percent of the country with little to no rain in early August, drying peat deposits that are normally too wet to burn underground. Forecasters expect El Niño to persist into early 2027, with low rain cloud potential across most of the archipelago, so the rainfall that usually ends the season may not arrive until late October or November (9).

Peat smolders below the surface at low temperatures rather than burning through the canopy, which makes these fires both difficult to extinguish and exceptionally polluting. Drought creates the conditions, but ignition is almost entirely caused by human activity, and long-run analysis shows a one percentage point increase in village poverty corresponds to roughly a 20 percent increase in the probability of fire (10).

The season escalated faster than suppression could scale, with burned area jumping from roughly 109,000 hectares in July to about 1.32 million hectares in August, and fire emissions running 273 percent above the seasonal average in early September. Even where flames are gone, embers survive below the surface, so wetting and cooling continue at sites already declared extinguished.

Are there any evacuation orders or emergency alerts in place?

Indonesian authorities have placed the worst-affected provinces under formal emergency alert status. Jambi has maintained a karhutla Emergency Alert status running from April 27 through November 30, 2026, with Tanjung Jabung Timur Regency under its own alert.

Central Kalimantan's provincial Emergency Alert extends through October 31, 2026, and covers districts including East Kotawaringin, Kapuas, Sukamara, Seruyan, Palangka Raya, and West Kotawaringin. South Kalimantan declared an emergency alert for fire and drought from July 6 through October 31, 2026, while West Kalimantan has held provincial alert status since February 2 with an emergency response period layered on top of it (11).

Rather than broad mandatory evacuations, authorities have focused on sheltering, mask distribution, and medical surge capacity. Nearly a million masks and hundreds of oxygen concentrator units have been distributed to affected residents, and thousands of medical workers have been deployed, with additional personnel dispatched as needs are identified. Schools across Borneo and Sumatra have shifted to remote learning, nine national parks have closed, and flights have been delayed because of heavy smoke (12).

Disaster officials have proposed smoke-free, accessible shelters, evacuation routes, and visual or text alerts for vulnerable residents. Analysts have also called for a national disaster declaration and evacuation support for vulnerable groups, estimating that 17.3 million people across 12 provinces could be affected by acute respiratory infections (13).

Residents should monitor air quality and official notices, limit outdoor activity during heavy haze, keep windows and doors closed, wear a well-fitted respirator outdoors, and report signs of fire immediately.

How can I protect myself from wildfire smoke?

Always plan ahead to protect yourself from wildfire smoke.

• Get a free air quality app for real-time air quality alerts and forecasts.
• Shut doors and windows and set the HVAC to recirculate mode.
• Run a high-performance air purifier to filter wildfire smoke.
• Contribute to your community’s outdoor air quality data.
• Stay indoors; if you do need to go outdoors, wear a KN95/FFP2 mask.