Indonesia is stepping up efforts to contain forest and peatland fires in Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan, as authorities work to prevent the blaze from spreading further.
Ground teams and helicopters have been deployed to tackle the fires, particularly in peatland areas where flames can continue burning beneath the surface even after visible fires have been extinguished.
National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) chief Suharyanto said rain remained the most effective way to put out peatland fires, although there was currently limited potential for suitable rain clouds to develop over West Kalimantan.
He said weather modification operations would be carried out whenever suitable rain clouds were detected to help bring rainfall to affected areas.
Suharyanto made the remarks following an aerial inspection of firefighting operations in Kubu Raya, while attributing the growing size of the affected area to more than a month without rain and extremely hot weather.
The BNPB had earlier said West Kalimantan had three water-bombing helicopters, with two additional helicopters scheduled to be deployed within two days, bringing the total to five aircraft. Patrol helicopters and aircraft for weather modification operations were also placed on standby.
According to BNPB data, a total of 28,680 hectares of land were affected by fires across West Kalimantan between January and June this year. The figure has already surpassed the 26,703 hectares recorded throughout 2025.
Suharyanto also cited forecasts from Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysical Agency, which predicted hotter conditions and a high fire risk across West Kalimantan over the next three weeks.
Separately, BNPB said four forest and land fires were recorded in North Sumatra, Central Java, South Sulawesi and West Java between Friday and 7am on Saturday.
The fires affected a combined area of 4.5 hectares and were all successfully extinguished.
