Each dry season, the ancient peatlands of Sumatra and Kalimantan are set alight by human hands seeking the cheapest path to cleared land, and the consequences ripple outward far beyond any single field or plantation. This year, amplified by a super El Niño, the fires have grown into a regional crisis: over 50,000 people hospitalized in Indonesia, toxic haze drifting into Malaysia and the Philippines, and millions breathing air that was never meant to sustain them. It is a story as old as short-term economics meeting long-term consequence — a reminder that fire, once released into a drying worl
Indonesia's wildfire haze spreads across Southeast Asia, hospitalizing thousands
Over 50,000 people hospitalized for respiratory infections in Indonesia; millions exposed to toxic haze across Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Fire is the cheapest way to clear land, so it keeps happening
Mark
Why do these fires keep happening if burning to clear land is illegal in Indonesia?
Mimi
Because it's the cheapest way to do it. A farmer or company can set a fire and let nature do the work of clearing. Machinery and labor cost money. Fire is free. The law exists, but enforcement is weak, and the economic incentive is strong.
Luke
Do we know how many of these fires are set by individual farmers versus corporations? The source says the government acknowledges they're deliberately set, but it doesn't break down who's actually lighting them.
Mimi
That's a fair point. The reporting confirms they're deliberate, but doesn't give us a clear picture of the breakdown. We know both are involved, but not the proportions.
Mark
And the hospitalization number—50,000 people. Is that just acute respiratory infections, or does it include people with pre-existing conditions that flared up?
Mimi
The source says respiratory infections specifically. It's not clear if that's new infections or exacerbations of existing conditions, or both.
Luke
Also worth noting: schools in South Kalimantan are still open despite the air being unhealthy for sensitive groups. That's a policy choice someone made, and we don't know the reasoning behind it.
Mark
So the haze is regional now—Malaysia, Philippines. Do we know how far it might spread, or how long it typically lasts?
Mimi
The source doesn't say. We know it's spreading, but not the trajectory or timeline for when it might clear.
Luke
And the El Niño factor—is this year's super El Niño unusual, or is this a pattern we should expect to see again?
Mimi
The source mentions it's exacerbating the disaster this year, but doesn't give us historical context for how often super El Niño events occur or what they typically mean for fire season in Indonesia.
The Pulse
- Tens of thousands of Indonesians are already in hospital beds, their lungs bearing the cost of fires deliberately lit to save money on land clearing.
- With 8,572 hotspots recorded in Central Kalimantan alone, the scale of burning has overwhelmed the region's air and is now pushing toxic haze across international borders into Malaysia and the Philippines.
- In Sarawak, schools across five districts have been shuttered as the Air Pollution Index climbs to unhealthy levels, while in South Kalimantan, children still file into classrooms despite air classified as dangerous for sensitive groups.
- A super El Niño is acting as an accelerant — drying the land further, spreading the fires wider, and making an already illegal practice catastrophically harder to contain.
- President Prabowo has pledged strict enforcement against those responsible, but the fires continue to burn, the haze continues to spread, and the gap between political promise and ground reality remains wide open.
Each dry season, the ancient peatlands of Sumatra and Kalimantan are set alight by human hands seeking the cheapest path to cleared land, and the consequences ripple outward far beyond any single field or plantation. This year, amplified by a super El Niño, the fires have grown into a regional crisis: over 50,000 people hospitalized in Indonesia, toxic haze drifting into Malaysia and the Philippines, and millions breathing air that was never meant to sustain them. It is a story as old as short-term economics meeting long-term consequence — a reminder that fire, once released into a drying world, does not honor the boundaries we draw around it.
Weeks into Indonesia's dry season, the peatlands and forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan are burning with no end in sight. The smoke has thickened into a toxic haze blanketing millions across two of Southeast Asia's most densely populated regions, and it has begun crossing borders. More than 50,000 people have been hospitalized in Indonesia, most with respiratory infections tied directly to the air they are breathing.
A BBC reporter arriving in Banjarmasin found the haze visible within three kilometers of the airport, the air already classified as unhealthy for sensitive groups. The fires are concentrated in peatlands — ecosystems that, once ignited, burn with particular intensity and produce especially thick smoke. Despite the conditions, schools in the region remain open.
The fires are not natural disasters. Indonesia's government has acknowledged they are largely deliberate — set by farmers and corporations for whom burning is simply the cheapest way to clear land for palm oil, pulp, and paper plantations during the dry months. The problem is that fire in dry conditions does not stay where it is meant to. Blazes spread into protected forests and peatlands, generating the thousands of hotspots now being recorded across the region. A super El Niño has made this year's situation significantly worse, intensifying the dry season and creating ideal conditions for fires to persist and spread.
The haze has now reached Malaysia and the Philippines. In Sarawak, authorities suspended face-to-face classes across five districts as smoke from Kalimantan thickened by the day. Residents there are watching the situation worsen. What began as an Indonesian environmental and public health crisis has become a regional one.
President Prabowo Subianto has pledged strict action against those responsible. Whether that pledge becomes enforcement remains uncertain. For now, the fires burn on, the haze spreads further, and the hospitals continue to fill.
Weeks into Indonesia's dry season, fires that started in the peatlands and forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan show no sign of stopping. The smoke has thickened into a toxic haze that now blankets millions of people across two of Southeast Asia's most densely populated regions, and it has begun drifting across borders into neighboring countries. Over 50,000 people have been hospitalized in Indonesia alone, most of them admitted with respiratory infections tied directly to the air they've been breathing.
A BBC reporter arriving in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, last night found the haze already visible within three kilometers of the airport. The air quality was classified as unhealthy for sensitive groups—a category that typically includes children, the elderly, and anyone with existing lung or heart conditions. A week earlier, the smoke had been dense enough to force at least nine flights to delay. The fires burning nearby are concentrated in peatlands, ecosystems that, once ignited, burn with particular intensity and produce especially thick smoke. Yet despite the deteriorating air, schools in the region remain open and operating normally. No shift to remote learning has been announced.
The scale of the fires across Kalimantan alone is staggering. Central Kalimantan has recorded 8,572 hotspots—the highest concentration in the region. West Kalimantan follows with 7,617, and South Kalimantan with 1,450. These are not natural disasters. Indonesia's government has acknowledged that the fires are largely deliberately set, either by individual farmers or by corporations. The practice is rooted in economics: during the dry months from July through October, burning is the cheapest way to clear land for plantations of palm oil, pulp, and paper. A farmer or company can set a fire and let it do the work that would otherwise require expensive machinery and labor.
The problem is that fire, once lit in dry conditions, does not always stay where it was meant to. These deliberately set blazes spread uncontrollably into protected forests and peatlands, creating the massive hotspot counts now being recorded. The situation has been made worse this year by a super El Niño event, which has intensified the dry season and created ideal conditions for fires to spread and persist. The Indonesian government has long had a law against opening land by burning, yet the practice continues year after year.
The haze has now crossed into Malaysia and the Philippines. In Sarawak, the Malaysian side of Borneo Island, the Air Pollution Index in several areas has been classified as unhealthy. Authorities there have suspended face-to-face classes in five districts—Kuching, Samarahan, Serian, Sri Aman, and Betong—as the smoke from Kalimantan grows thicker by the day. A resident of Sarawak, Muhammad Fazli Bendaud, expressed concern that the haze is intensifying. The problem is no longer contained within Indonesia's borders; it has become a regional crisis affecting the health and daily routines of millions across Southeast Asia.
President Prabowo Subianto has recently pledged to take strict action against those responsible for setting the fires. Whether that commitment will translate into enforcement remains to be seen. For now, the fires continue to burn, the haze continues to spread, and the hospitals continue to fill with patients struggling to breathe.
Notable Quotes
The haze is getting stronger— Muhammad Fazli Bendaud, Sarawak resident
The fires are largely deliberately set, either by individuals or corporations— Indonesian government acknowledgment
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Climate & Environment