{
  "id": 7685797,
  "title": "Indonesia’s choking wildfire, haze worsen breathing woes on Borneo",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/indonesias-choking-wildfire-haze-worsen-breathing-woes-on-borneo",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-16T02:31:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Japan Times",
    "slug": "japan-times",
    "url": "https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/09/16/asia-pacific/science-health/indonesia-wildfire-haze-borneo/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Indonesian residents in Pontianak, Borneo, cope with worsening air quality due to raging forest fires and thick haze. Mimi Marlina, a housewife, and her two children face respiratory problems and fear the situation may worsen if conditions persist. The province of West Kalimantan, where Pontianak is located, is among the areas worst hit by Indonesia's most intense wildfires in 11 years, exacerbated by \"super-El Nino\" weather conditions causing temperatures to soar and leading to punishing droughts.\n\nVolunteers are distributing oxygen cylinders to residents and firefighters struggling to breathe, a campaign dubbed \"Rumah Oksigen,\" or Oxygen House. Air quality has also deteriorated in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, causing a rise in respiratory illness cases. Over 12.5 million people in seven Indonesian provinces have been exposed to haze from fires, and the number of wildfire-related respiratory illness cases has more than doubled to 113,336 as of September 9, up from 50,891 on September 1.\n\nIn the first 11 days of September, a Pontianak clinic treated 187 breathing difficulties cases, compared to 422 for all of August. Suriana, a 54-year-old resident in Kubu Raya district, reported worsening health as air quality worsened, experiencing shortness of breath, especially in the mornings and evenings when haze is strongest. Indonesia's emissions of 19.7 million metric tons during the week to September 7 accounted for more than a third of the global total, according to the Fire Emissions Watch portal of the European Union's Copernicus climate monitoring service. From January to July this year, fires raged across 202,000 hectares of land. Environmental group YKAN estimates that fires damaged 600,000 hectares more in August. Indonesia has ramped up fire-fighting efforts, deploying over 50 aircraft to drop water on flames and engaging in cloud seeding to induce rain, while Japan sent three CH-47 Chinook and 180 crew last week to assist.",
  "summary": "The country is experiencing its most intense fires in 11 years as \"super-El Nino\" conditions drive up temperatures and cause punishing droughts.",
  "key_points": [
    "Pontianak residents suffer worsening air quality from forest fires",
    "West Kalimantan province hits by Indonesia's worst wildfires in 11 years",
    "Over 113,336 respiratory illness cases reported in Indonesia"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The worsening wildfires and haze in Indonesia's Borneo region mean escalating health crises for millions, with respiratory illness cases soaring and volunteers scrambling to distribute oxygen to those struggling to breathe.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Indonesia’s choking wildfire, haze worsen breathing woes on Borneo",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/indonesias-choking-wildfire-haze-worsen-breathing-woes-on-borneo-7688670",
        "published": "2026-09-16T01:32:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Indonesia's choking wildfire, haze worsen breathing woes on Borneo",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/indonesias-choking-wildfire-haze-worsen-breathing-woes-on-borneo-7688403",
        "published": "2026-09-16T02:30:09.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}