Police: 64,341 Hectares of Land Burned, 62 Per Cent Extinguished
The Indonesian National Police have provided an update on the forest and land fires occurring in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Police stated that 62 per cent of the total burned area of 64,341 hectares has been extinguished.
“Based on our data, the total area of land burned nationally is recorded at 64,341 hectares. Thanks to the hard work of the joint team comprising the National Police, the Indonesian Military, the Regional Disaster Management Agency, Manggala Agni, and the community on the ground, 39,959 hectares, or 62 per cent of the total burned area, have been successfully extinguished and brought under control,” explained Brigadier General Auliansyah Lubis, Head of the Operations Bureau of the National Police Operations Staff, during a press conference at National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta on Sunday (23/8/2026).
Aulia stated that 48,656 hotspots had been detected. Of that figure, 7,872 hotspots were verified as active.
“As of the 22nd, there were 48,656 hotspots detected nationally, and ground verification confirmed 7,872 active fire spots. This is approximately 16.17 per cent of all the hotspots,” he said.
Aulia detailed that the fire spots were concentrated in five provinces, with West Kalimantan recording the highest number.
“Most are concentrated in five priority provinces: West Kalimantan with around 2,849 fire spots, followed by Riau with 1,201, South Sumatra with 1,105, South Kalimantan with 738, and Central Kalimantan with 674,” he said.
Previously, a total of 72 people had been named as suspects in connection with the forest and land fires across nine regional police jurisdictions. The National Police are providing assistance to ensure the investigations proceed properly.
The dozens of police reports are spread across the Riau, West Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Jambi, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Aceh, and North Kalimantan regional police.
“These nine regional police forces have carried out investigations, with 72 individual suspects named. The investigations were conducted at the fire spots on the ground after hotspots were detected and checked, confirming that fires had indeed occurred,” said Brigadier General Irhamni during the press conference at National Police Headquarters on Sunday (23/8/2026).
He stated that the land burning is strongly suspected to have been carried out deliberately by the perpetrators. The details of the forest and land fire suspects are as follows:
Riau Regional Police: 30 police reports, 35 suspects
West Kalimantan Regional Police: 18 police reports from 2,282 fire spots
South Sumatra Regional Police: 15 police reports from 618 fire spots, 17 suspects
Jambi Regional Police: 17 police reports from 64 fire spots, 8 suspects
Central Kalimantan Regional Police: 8 police reports from 203 fire spots, 11 suspects
South Kalimantan Regional Police: 3 police reports from 318 fire spots, 2 suspects
East Kalimantan Regional Police: 2 police reports from 243 fire spots, 1 suspect
Aceh Regional Police: 2 police reports from 71 fire spots
North Kalimantan Regional Police: 2 police reports from 12 fire spots