Indonesia’s wildfire season surges as haze spreads into Malaysia

Smoke from Indonesian wildfires has permeated into Malaysia, resulting in hazardous air quality and prompting school closures, according to reports from August 2026. Sarawak's Tebedu district, located near the international border, reported an air pollution index (API) surpassing 200, classified as "very unhealthy," leading the government to shut down six schools and transition to online learning.

IQAir, a Swiss-based air quality monitoring firm, designated Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, as the most polluted significant city globally on August 11. Malaysia's Air Pollutant Index Management System (APIMS) recorded 11 areas in Sarawak with unhealthy API readings on August 11, an increase from eight on August 9. The deteriorating air quality in Sarawak coincides with the escalation of fires in Indonesia's West Kalimantan province, adjacent to Malaysia.

The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), which tracks and evaluates wildfires and transboundary haze in Southeast Asia, documented smoke spreading from West Kalimantan into western Sarawak over multiple days in July. A map from the ASMC illustrating haze coverage and wind patterns in the southern ASEAN region on August 11, 2026, is available upon request.

As the haze enveloped sections of West Kalimantan, educational institutions in the provincial capital, Pontianak, were indefinitely suspended and classes moved online. Fires also impacted areas of Sumatra. Historically, fires in western Indonesian Borneo have often drifted northward, as detailed in this article originally published by Mongabay.