Forest and Land Fires Spread Across Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java and Papua
Forest and land fires continue to spread in Sumatra and Kalimantan, affecting six priority provinces across the two island groups. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) recorded a total of 18,000 hectares still burning in Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.
Berton SP Panjaitan, acting head of BNPB’s Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre, said the total area still burning in Sumatra was 7,219 hectares. Of this, about 5,194 hectares were in South Sumatra and 2,025 hectares in Jambi. BNPB has not received any reports of forest and land fires in Riau in recent weeks.
“That brings the total we have reported to 7,219 hectares on Sumatra, specifically in the two provinces of Jambi and South Sumatra,” he said during an online press conference on Thursday (22 October 2026).
On Kalimantan, firefighting efforts remain focused on Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan. BNPB recorded about 11,202 hectares still burning across the three provinces.
Panjaitan said 7,938 hectares were still affected by fires in Central Kalimantan. A further 1,974 hectares were burning in South Kalimantan and 1,290 hectares in West Kalimantan.
“That brings the total we have reported to 11,202 hectares across those three provinces,” he said.
He explained that firefighting in the six provinces was being carried out by ground and aerial task forces. In Sumatra, a total of 33,106 personnel have been deployed to tackle the fires in South Sumatra, Jambi and Riau.
Alongside ground operations, authorities are conducting water-bombing missions, patrols and weather-modification operations in the three provinces. A total of 17 aircraft and other aerial assets have been deployed to tackle the fires in Sumatra.
In Kalimantan, 38,772 personnel have been deployed to fight fires in West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan. At least 34 aircraft and other aerial assets are being used across the three provinces.