‘Everything is covered in ash’: Indonesia wildfires leave people in crisis

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkWildfires have blazed through West Kalimantan in Indonesia [Jessica Washington/Al Jazeera]By Jessica WashingtonPublished On 27 Aug 202627 Aug 2026Kubu Raya, Indonesia – As wildfires burn across Indonesia, forcing schools to close and thousands to seek medical treatment for exposure to thick haze and ash, locals in West Kalimantan say the situation is more serious than it has been in years.“I have lived here for 15 years … I have never experienced a fire like this before. This is the first time something like this has happened,” Salma, a resident of Kubu Raya, tells Al Jazeera.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3El Nino set to be most intense ‘for over a century’: UK forecasterslist 2 of 3Governments brace for historic El Nino impacts on global weather extremeslist 3 of 3Wildfires burn across Indonesia as officials cite El Nino as a causeend of listFor nearly two weeks in the area, she said, fires grew and spread.“I was scared, I was afraid that I would be burned by such a big fire. So I evacuated,” Salma said, adding that the fire “almost burned everything”.“If the firefighters had not come quickly, my house would have burned down, too.”Volunteer firefighter Anas Dwi Wahyu Kurniawan says the situation is “very serious”, telling Al Jazeera that the fires this year are similar in scale to those that took place in 2016.Wildfires have been burning for more than a month, and blazes continue to spread through the hot spots of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, and Papua, as emergency crews battle the flames.Salma carries buckets of water near farmland as wildfires affect West Kalimantan [Jessica Washington/Al Jazeera]On Tuesday, President Prabowo Subianto said the government had deployed dozens of helicopters, aircraft, water pumps, and thousands of personnel to battle the blazes.Indonesia’s Health Ministry says 3.4 million people are at risk of respiratory infections due to exposure, adding that it had distributed more than 260,000 face masks to residents of the hardest-hit areas.In Kabu Raya and other parts of West Kalimantan, emergency crews say they are grappling with difficult conditions as fires spread quickly through the dried-up peatland.They are also grappling with water shortages and haze hampering visibility.“From what I have experienced, it is much worse compared to previous years,” said Dwi Wahyu Kurniawan.He added that he and other volunteers “face limitations in terms of personal protective equipment, as well as emergency equipment such as portable oxygen and other supplies”, severely complicating their task of putting out the fires.“With water sources far away and inadequate equipment,” he said, “I think the situation will continue for some time unless there is a change in the weather.” ‘Their health could become worse’The fires are having a severe impact on people’s health, with doctors saying that many patients are arriving with persistent coughs.“On a daily basis, most of the complaints from patients here are coughing and sore throats, or what we call throat inflammation. Every day, between 50 and 70 people come in,” said Dr Muhammad Arief Trihapsoro, at the Sungai Durian Health Clinic.Conditions like bronchitis are a major concern, as well as the long-term impacts of prolonged exposure to air pollution, including a heightened risk of stroke and heart disease.Medics say pregnant women and children are among the most vulnerable.Many parents have had to bring their children to health clinics and hospitals several times as symptoms associated with the fires keep reappearing.Many in Indonesia’s West Kalimantan seek medical care for exposure to thick haze and ash [Jessica Washington/Al Jazeera]“I brought both of my children [to the health clinic]. They have stomachaches, fever, coughs and runny noses,” Siti Zahra, a mother of two, told Al Jazeera.“They have been sick for two days, but before that they were also sick for three days, then they got sick again. So, in this one month, they have been sick three times because of the smoke, ash, drought and fires.”Zahra said that it’s impossible to avoid the ash, as it even invades their home.“Everything is covered in ash, so I have to sweep every day. Not just once a day – even after I sweep, there is more ash in the back of the house. I sweep it up, and then there is more. I’m getting tired of sweeping.”She is so concerned about her children’s health that she doesn’t even allow them to go outside.“I’m also afraid to go outside. I don’t dare take the children out, so they just stay at home,” she said, adding that her children refuse to wear the protective masks she gave them, so “when we are here [at the health clinic], I force them to wear masks so they are not exposed to even more haze and ash”.“I’m very worried that this [haze and ash] will have a long-term impact on their health,” Zahra said. “In the long term, their health could become even worse.”