Indonesia’s underground peat fires persist despite rain as hotspots decline

Firefighters from Indonesia’s regional disaster management agency pump water to extinguish spreading wildfires amid dense smoke and haze in Barito Kuala, South Kalimantan province, on October 24, 2026. — AFP pic

First Published: Tuesday, 27 Oct 2026 5:02 PM MYT

JAKARTA, Oct 27 — Indonesia continues efforts to extinguish underground peat fires, despite rainfall easing firefighting operations in several affected areas.

The Forestry Ministry said high-confidence forest and land fire hotspots nationwide fell to 93 from 147 a day earlier.

Across six priority provinces, it said the number of hotspots fell to 10 from 26 as of 9pm local time on Monday, with five detected in West Kalimantan, three in Central Kalimantan and two in South Sumatra. No hotspots were detected in South Kalimantan, Jambi or Riau.

“This decline continues the positive trend observed over the past few days. However, it is important to reiterate that hotspots indicate surface temperature anomalies detected by satellites, and a single fire incident can be detected as several hotspots.

“Conversely, fires or embers may remain on the ground even when hotspots are no longer detected. Therefore, a decline in hotspots does not automatically mean that all forest fires have been extinguished,” it said in an update posted on social media.

Although rain had fallen in several parts of Ogan Komering Ilir district in South Sumatra, conditions in Talang Rimba village showed that rainfall alone was insufficient to extinguish all fires.

“On peatlands in particular, embers can persist and spread beneath the surface. Therefore, patrols, water application, searches for remaining embers, mop-up and cooling operations continue until personnel can confirm that conditions are completely safe,” the Forest Ministry said.

It said 61 aircraft remained deployed to support firefighting operations while weather modification operations continued in areas with suitable cloud conditions. — Bernama