Indonesian teen with ‘Superman’ cape fights haze fires, minister hails ‘forest hero’

Dressed as his favourite superhero, Indonesian teenager Rudiyansah walks along a charred landscape, helping douse wildfires that have razed large parts of Borneo island.

The Southeast Asian country has been battling infernos that have left a thick, blanketing smog over parts of the island that Indonesia shares with Malaysia and Brunei.

Rudiyansah’s red and blue Superman costume stood out against the stark, scorched landscape surrounding the town of Palangkaraya, where he has joined a local volunteer firefighting group set up by his father to put out smouldering peatland.

The 17-year-old said he had been using his free time after school to help his father douse fires since 2023.

But this year, he decided to don the brightly coloured tights when fighting fires, creating a striking image that has drawn attention to the struggle to contain the blazes.

While Rudiyansah said dressing as the Man of Steel was “just for fun”, video of him using a hosepipe to wet foliage has gone viral, garnering millions of views and earning him the title of “forest hero” from the country’s forestry minister.