Indonesian police arrested 72 people on August 23, 2026, on suspicion of starting forest and peatland fires across nine provinces. The widespread blazes, fueled by a prolonged dry season and an intensifying El Niño pattern, have blanketed parts of Borneo and Sumatra in a choking haze and forced hundreds of school closures in neighboring Malaysia.
Arrests Over 89 Wildfire Cases Across Borneo and Sumatra
Indonesian authorities have moved decisively against suspected arsonists as hazardous smoke from agricultural burning chokes the region. Police executed the arrests in connection with 89 distinct forest and land fire cases spanning five provinces on Borneo and four provinces on Sumatra. Mohammad Irhamni, director of special crimes at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency, stated that plantation owners and traditional farmers frequently resort to fire as a low-cost method to clear land for new crops.
The detained individuals face severe legal consequences under Indonesian environmental laws. According to investigators, the suspects face charges that carry penalties ranging from hefty fines to prison terms of up to 15 years. Beyond the individuals detained on the ground, law enforcement officials indicated that the legal dragnet is expanding to uncover who financed the operations.
“We will not stop at the perpetrators on the ground,” Irhami said in a news conference Sunday in the capital, Jakarta. “We will determine who benefited from these activities and who was ultimately behind them.”
Irhami, director of special crimes at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency
Presidential Inspections and Corporate Scrutiny in Kalimantan
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto flew to Central Kalimantan province, where more than 7,600 hectares have burned, to personally evaluate disaster response efforts and urge local authorities to bring the choking haze under control. During his visit, the president pledged the full deployment of government resources, including dedicated water-bombing helicopters and water pumps, while vowing strict accountability for any agricultural corporations linked to the blazes.
Accompanying the president, Prasetyo Hadi, head of the State Secretariat, revealed that investigators are actively scrutinizing at least four separate companies in West Kalimantan province. These corporate entities face potential sanctions, including the revocation of their operating permits, if formal investigations prove they deliberately deployed fire for land clearance. Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry has also inspected active fires inside the palm oil concession area operated by PT Bintang Harapan Palma within South Sumatra’s Ogan Komering Ilir regency.
Escalating Hotspots, El Niño Pressures, and Cross-Border Haze
The current crisis highlights the compounding pressure of environmental degradation and extreme weather. Indonesia’s weather agency warns that the prevailing El Niño pattern is expected to persist into early 2027, establishing a critical fire season stretching from August through September. Forestry data shows that wildfire activity surged sharply as dry conditions set in, pushing total burned land past 202,004 hectares between January and July.
The national disaster management agency, BNPB, identified six priority provinces facing severe blazes: Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The agency deployed roughly 13,000 personnel to manage ground operations across the Kalimantan region alone, backed by dozens of aircraft conducting aerial patrols and cloud-seeding missions.
Despite a recent drop in daily hotspot counts—which the forestry ministry welcomed while noting that suppression efforts remain ongoing—deep-seated peatland fires continue to smolder. BNPB chief Suharyanto emphasized the stubborn nature of these subterranean blazes.
Fires that appear extinguished on the surface may still contain embers underneath, so sufficient rainfall is crucial to rewet the peat and fully suppress the fires,
Suharyanto, BNPB chief
The resulting smoke has severely impacted neighboring countries. In Malaysia, the eastern state of Sarawak recorded hazardous air quality levels that forced the government to close nearly 600 schools, disrupting education for approximately 200,000 students as regional authorities race to extinguish the fires before dry weather exacerbates the spread.
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