Antara News·Indonesia·Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:18 PM

Indonesia bolsters forest and land fire control as hotspots drop

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Aria Ananda, Raka Adji

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry is stepping up forest and land fire control operations, even as the number of hotspots nationwide has dropped to 1,037.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the ministry continues to monitor hotspots through its forest and land fire monitoring system, SiPongi, as the fire situation remains dynamic.

SiPongi data sourced from NASA’s Terra/Aqua, SNPP, and NOAA-20 satellites showed that as of Tuesday (September 15) at 9:05 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB), 1,037 high-confidence hotspots were recorded nationwide, reflecting a decrease of 400 hotspots from the previous day.

Among the six provinces prioritized for wildfire control, Central Kalimantan recorded 266 hotspots, down from 689, while West Kalimantan dropped from 203 to 43, and South Kalimantan decreased from 112 to 72.

Meanwhile, South Sumatra saw an increase from 116 to 245 hotspots, Jambi rose from nine to 62, and Riau recorded 15 hotspots after previously having none.

According to the Ministry of Forestry, hotspots indicate surface temperature anomalies detected by satellites and do not necessarily represent individual fire events.

A single fire event can be detected as multiple hotspots. Therefore, satellite indications are continuously verified through on-the-ground checks and monitoring of actual conditions.

Antoni affirmed that the government continues to conduct forest and land fire control operations through a combination of aerial and ground efforts, including weather modification or cloud seeding to support land wetting.

The government keeps 53 aircraft on standby across the six priority provinces. A total of 34 aircraft are deployed for water bombing, while the remaining 19 are used for aerial patrols and weather modification support.

In addition to cloud seeding, aerial firefighting is deployed to reach fire zones with terrain that is difficult to access by ground personnel.

He said ground task forces remain vital for both firefighting and rewetting efforts, particularly in peatland areas.

"Our joint evaluation shows that during a strong El Niño event like this, alongside weather modification, ground task forces are the most capable of extinguishing fires and wetting peatland areas, especially in the six priority provinces," he said.

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