{
  "id": 10418905,
  "title": "The wildfires choking Indonesia, sparking regional haze",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/the-wildfires-choking-indonesia-sparking-regional-haze-10418905",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-28T10:14:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2026/09/1543154/wildfires-choking-indonesia-sparking-regional-haze"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Indonesia is currently grappling with a series of devastating wildfires that have scorched extensive areas of forest and peatlands, releasing toxic smoke that has engulfed parts of the country, as well as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore. The fires have wreaked havoc on both human lives and wildlife, prompting criminal charges, license suspensions, and the formation of a new agency aimed at controlling peatland fires.\n\nFrom January to July of this year, over 202,000 hectares (780 square miles) of land were destroyed by the fires, an area equivalent to three times the size of Jakarta. This figure represents a 69% increase in burned areas compared to the same period last year. However, these figures have not been updated since, and the ongoing fires are becoming increasingly severe. Satellite monitoring project Nusantara Atlas estimates that nearly 896,000 hectares of land had burned by the end of August, an area larger than Greater London.\n\nSouth Papua province, located on the easternmost island of Indonesia, has borne the brunt of the fires, with more than 168,000 hectares burned as of August. Additionally, an NGO reported that fires have been detected within a large-scale government food estate project in South Papua.\n\nThe primary cause of the fires is attributed to the El Nino weather phenomenon, which typically leads to dry conditions in Indonesia. However, experts emphasize that human activities, such as slash-and-burn land clearing and decades of forest degradation, have also played a significant role in creating highly flammable landscapes. El Nino acts as a trigger, but the actual ignition of the fires is due to human intervention. Peatlands, in particular, have been significantly affected, as they have been dried out for agricultural purposes, making them extremely susceptible to ignition and difficult to extinguish.\n\nIndonesia's Health Ministry has reported that cases of respiratory illnesses have surged past 170,000 in the provinces hit by the haze. The fires have not only impacted human health but have also had a devastating effect on wildlife. Indonesian authorities have managed to rescue 100 animals, including 53 orangutans, from the flames. In Borneo, fires have been detected within habitats containing 52% of the island's orangutan population, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The haze has extended beyond Indonesia's borders, affecting neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and southern Thailand.",
  "summary": "JAKARTA: For weeks, Indonesia has been battling fires that have burned vast swathes of forest and peat ecosystems, causing toxic haze to blanket parts of the country, Malaysia and Singapore.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Phys.org",
        "title": "The wildfires choking Indonesia, sparking regional haze",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/the-wildfires-choking-indonesia-sparking-regional-haze",
        "published": "2026-09-28T08:32:52.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}