Latest Wildfire Hotspots: Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra Worst Affected

Forest and land fires remain active in several provinces across Sumatra and Kalimantan. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said the largest affected areas were in Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra.

“[Fires are occurring] in South Sumatra, Jambi and Lampung, particularly in Way Kambas National Park,” said Berton SP Panjaitan, acting head of BNPB’s Data, Information and Disaster Communications Centre, during a live broadcast on BNPB’s YouTube channel on Monday (26 October 2026), providing an update on the response to the fires.

Berton said 990 hectares of land had been affected by fires in Sumatra. Of that total, 889 hectares were in South Sumatra.

“Our current data show 990 hectares in Sumatra, with the largest area in South Sumatra at 889 hectares. Jambi accounts for 89 hectares, while Lampung has 12 hectares,” he said.

Berton said the affected area was larger in Kalimantan, totalling 3,392 hectares. Central and West Kalimantan were the main areas of concern.

“Yesterday, on 26 October 2016, we received reports that about 3,392 hectares of land were still under response. The figure is 2,456 hectares in Central Kalimantan, 52 hectares in South Kalimantan and 884 hectares in West Kalimantan. Our focus is particularly on Central Kalimantan and, especially, West Kalimantan,” he said.

Berton said 57,050 personnel had been deployed to tackle the fires on the ground. A further 61 aircraft were being used for aerial firefighting, including weather-modification operations.

“We are continuing weather modification, as well as regular patrols and water-bombing operations. Two of the four provinces have had rain, which is greatly helping efforts to tackle the fires,” Berton said.