Indonesia's wildfires decline to 96 hectares as containment continues

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that the remaining area affected by forest and land fires across six priority provinces had declined to 96.07 hectares as joint ground and aerial firefighting operations continued to be intensified.

Berton SP Panjaitan, acting head of the agency's Data, Information, and Disaster Communication Center, said the September 28 figure marked a 62.29-hectare decrease from the previous day, when unextinguished fires covered 158.36 hectares.

"Based on updated data as of September 28, 2026, the total burned area across the six priority provinces reached 527.6 hectares, of which 431.53 hectares have been successfully extinguished," he said during a press conference on forest and land fires in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The BNPB Operational Control Directorate reported that the largest reduction in active fire area was recorded in Central Kalimantan at 46.70 hectares, followed by South Kalimantan at 17.74 hectares, Jambi at 1.50 hectares, and West Kalimantan at 1 hectare.

Meanwhile, increases in unextinguished fire areas were recorded in South Sumatra at 4.15 hectares and Riau at 0.5 hectares.

The total extinguished area of 431.53 hectares resulted from ground operations covering 369.03 hectares and aerial operations covering 62.5 hectares.

Panjaitan explained that 59,035 task force personnel had been deployed for ground operations across the six priority provinces: 14,837 in Riau, 14,575 in West Kalimantan, 11,026 in South Sumatra, 7,927 in South Kalimantan, 5,984 in Jambi, and 4,686 in Central Kalimantan.

In addition to deploying water pumps, portable tanks, and deep-peat water injectors, BNPB had bolstered its aerial fleet to 56 units, comprising 43 water bombers and 13 aircraft for patrol and weather modification, or cloud-seeding, operations.

He said that despite challenges such as thick haze, shifting wind directions, and limited water sources in peatland areas, BNPB, in collaboration with various parties, continued to maximize ground wetting and cloud-seeding operations to curb the impact of smoke.

Related news: Ground crews most effective in battling fires: Prabowo

Translator: M Riezko, Raka Adji
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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