Every effort is being made to extinguish the fires,Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government has deployed 64 aircraft and 54,394 personnel to tackle forest and land fires across various parts of the country since August, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said.
"From the air to the ground, all available resources continue to be deployed. Every effort is being made to extinguish the fires, mitigate the impacts of smoke, and, most importantly, protect communities from the threat of forest and land fires," he said.
In an official post cited on Sunday, Teddy explained that the vast areas involved and challenging peatland conditions pose significant hurdles to firefighting efforts. Nevertheless, the government continues its efforts to address the situation.
The deployment comprises 55 aircraft from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and nine from the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), all continuously carrying out water-bombing operations.
Meanwhile, the 54,394 personnel comprise members of the TNI, the National Police (Polri), the Ministry of Forestry, the BNPB, Regional Disaster Mitigation Agencies (BPBD), Manggala Agni firefighting units, volunteers, and local residents.
A total of 14,759 personnel are involved in various firefighting efforts in West Kalimantan, 14,382 in Riau and the Riau Islands, 11,026 in South Sumatra, 5,984 in Jambi, 4,686 in Central Kalimantan, and 3,557 in South Kalimantan.
Forest and land fires have broken out in various regions of Indonesia as the country faces an increasingly intense dry season amid the El Niño phenomenon.
The Indonesian government has designated six provinces as priorities: Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Riau, South Sumatra, and Jambi.
According to data from the Ministry of Forestry's SiPongi system, sourced from NASA's Terra/Aqua, SNPP, and NOAA-20 satellites, a total of 1,323 high-confidence hotspots were detected nationwide as of Saturday (September 19) at 11:59 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB).
The figure represents an increase of 777 hotspots from the 546 recorded on Friday (September 18).
Related news: Indonesia suspends 26 corporate licenses amid wildfire crackdown
Related news: Indonesia boosts wildfire containment beyond priority provinces
Related news: Indonesia bolsters forest and land fire control as hotspots drop
Translator: Prisca Triferna, Raka Adji
Editor: M Razi Rahman
Copyright © ANTARA 2026
Facts Only
* The Indonesian government deployed 64 aircraft and 54,394 personnel to tackle forest and land fires since August.
* Efforts focus on extinguishing fires, mitigating smoke impacts, and protecting communities.
* Deployment included 55 aircraft from BNPB and nine from TNI, conducting water-bombing operations.
* Personnel comprised members of the TNI, Polri, Ministry of Forestry, BNPB, regional agencies, firefighting units, volunteers, and local residents.
* Specific personnel deployments were: 14,759 in West Kalimantan, 14,382 in Riau and the Riau Islands, 11,026 in South Sumatra, 5,984 in Jambi, 4,686 in Central Kalimantan, and 3,557 in South Kalimantan.
* Forest and land fires are occurring due to an intense dry season amid the El Niño phenomenon.
* Six provinces were designated as priorities: Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Riau, South Sumatra, and Jambi.
* Satellite data detected 1,323 high-confidence hotspots nationwide as of September 19th.
* This figure represents an increase of 777 hotspots from the previous day's count.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The narrative presents a large-scale operational response juxtaposed against an escalating environmental backdrop driven by climatic conditions. The mobilization of significant air and ground assets demonstrates a substantial commitment to immediate physical intervention, particularly in geographically challenging areas like peatlands. A critical pattern emerging is the reliance on layered resource deployment—involving military, police, environmental agencies, and local populations—to manage an ecological crisis. This complex coordination, while factually reported, invites examination of systemic capacity versus scale. The increase in detected hotspots suggests that current mitigation efforts may be reacting to accelerating conditions rather than preempting them, raising questions about the sustainability of reactive strategies against long-term climatic shifts like El Niño.
The distinction between prioritized provinces and the nationwide hotspot data introduces a tension regarding resource allocation. While specific areas receive focused attention, the overall increase in hotspots signals an environment where localized efforts must contend with pervasive, system-wide vulnerability. The focus on "extinguishing" fire reflects an immediate necessity, but the underlying pattern points toward a need to analyze whether the deployment strategy addresses the root causes—the exacerbating dry season and landscape conditions—or merely manages the visible symptoms. This suggests a potential divergence between operational expediency (deployment figures) and strategic resilience (long-term ecological management).
What assumptions underpin the narrative of continuous effort? Does focusing resources on reactive suppression inadvertently divert attention or funding from proactive land management strategies in the high-risk, designated areas? What are the secondary consequences for community resilience when emergency response dominates policy formulation? Furthermore, how does the reliance on satellite data and centralized reporting reflect or obscure ground-level realities in challenging environments like peatlands?