Indonesia’s Wildfire Crisis Deepens: West Kalimantan Residents Grapple with Unprecedented Blazes and Health Emergencies

Kubu Raya, Indonesia – As wildfires sweep across Indonesia, forcing school closures and driving thousands to seek medical care for exposure to dense haze and ash, residents of West Kalimantan report that the current crisis is the most severe they have encountered 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 Kubu Raya resident, told Al Jazeera.

For nearly two weeks in the area, she explained, the fires intensified and spread relentlessly.

“I was scared, I was afraid that I would be burned by such a big fire. So I evacuated,” Salma said, adding that the flames “almost burned everything.”

“If the firefighters had not come quickly, my house would have burned down, too.”

Volunteer firefighter Anas Dwi Wahyu Kurniawan described the situation as “very serious,” telling Al Jazeera that this year’s fires rival those of 2016 in their scale and intensity.

Wildfires have been raging for more than a month, with blazes continuing to spread through hotspots in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, and Papua as emergency crews work to contain them.

On Tuesday, President Prabowo Subianto announced that the government had deployed dozens of helicopters, aircraft, water pumps, and thousands of personnel to combat the blazes.

Indonesia’s Health Ministry reports that 3.4 million people are at risk of respiratory infections due to exposure, noting that more than 260,000 face masks have been distributed to residents in the hardest-hit areas.

In Kubu Raya and other parts of West Kalimantan, emergency crews say they are struggling with challenging conditions as fires spread rapidly through parched peatland.

Responders are also contending with water shortages and haze that severely limits visibility.

“From what I have experienced, it is much worse compared to previous years,” Dwi Wahyu Kurniawan said.

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,” significantly complicating their firefighting efforts.

“With water sources far away and inadequate equipment,” he noted, “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 taking a severe toll on public health, with doctors reporting a steady stream of patients presenting 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 such as bronchitis are a major concern, along with the long-term health consequences of prolonged exposure to air pollution, including an elevated risk of stroke and heart disease.

Medical professionals warn that pregnant women and children are among the most vulnerable populations.

Many parents have been forced to bring their children to health clinics and hospitals multiple times, as symptoms linked to the fires keep recurring.

“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 explained that avoiding the ash is nearly impossible, as it infiltrates even 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.”

Her concern for her children’s health is so great that she does not 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 provided. “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.”

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