Indonesia Deploys Nearly 17,000 Workers to Combat Fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra

Indonesia mobilised roughly 17,000 staff to tackle forest and land fires in Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra, according to the acting head of disaster data, Berton Panjaitan. Ground crews are being prioritised because dense haze has limited helicopter water-bombing. By Oct 13, firefighting efforts had covered 521.69 hectares in Central Kalimantan, including parts of Tanjung Puting National Park.

The Forestry Ministry said high-confidence hotspots across six priority provinces jumped to 294, with Central Kalimantan (130) and South Sumatra (91) leading the tally. Air quality monitoring shows very unhealthy to hazardous conditions in Central Kalimantan and nearby provinces. In South Sumatra, officials plan to test a dry-ice dispersal technique to improve visibility, a method developed with Thailand. Japan’s short-term firefighting mission in Kalimantan concluded on Sept 29, and any future foreign assistance must be routed through official channels.