{
  "id": 4981625,
  "title": "Fight the fires, flour power and 40 centimeters",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/02/fight-the-fires-flour-power-and-40-centimeters",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-02T01:08:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Jakarta Post",
    "slug": "the-jakarta-post",
    "url": "https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2026/09/02/fight-the-fires-flour-power-and-40-centimeters.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Indonesia has devised an unusual plan to combat forest fires by dropping cassava flour from helicopters, despite the fact that aerial retardants typically use plant polysaccharides as thickeners, not as active suppressing agents. The country's peatlands are actually sinking out of existence, governed by a seemingly insignificant 40-centimeter water rule that aerial stunts cannot fix. This oversight has led to a desperate situation, as President Prabowo Subianto suggested this unconventional approach during a coordination meeting in Palembang. The chemistry behind the idea is not absurd, but misplaced, as starch only helps water stick to fires and does not improve their extinguishing capabilities. The real issue lies in the altitude at which these fires smolder deep underground in the organic column, making ground crews' efforts futile after dark. The only true solution is maintaining a water table no deeper than 40 centimeters below the surface, but this infrastructure has been neglected. Seven out of 10 canal blocks inspected by NGO Pantau Gambut were broken, and water tables have lingered below safety thresholds at 52 percent of monitored sites. The Forestry Ministry has also recorded a surge in burned hectares, nearly doubling in a single month, while aerial cassava bombing has not received the necessary funding for ground pumps and firebreaks.",
  "summary": "While Indonesia dreams up airborne flour bombs to fight forest fires, its peatlands are quietly sinking out of existence—governed by an ignored 40-centimeter water rule that no aerial stunt can fix.",
  "key_points": [
    "Indonesia plans to drop cassava flour on forest fires from helicopters",
    "40-centimeter water rule governs Indonesia's sinking peatlands",
    "Ground crews efforts futile after dark due to underground fire smoldering"
  ],
  "editors_take": "Indonesia's unconventional plan to drop cassava flour from helicopters highlights the limitations of aerial fixes for forest fires, underscoring the need for neglected water table management infrastructure to prevent such crises.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "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."
}