Indonesia arrests 72 over forest fires as haze spreads across the region

JAKARTA, Indonesia | Indonesian authorities have arrested 72 people suspected of deliberately starting forest and peatland fires as a severe dry-season wildfire crisis spreads across parts of the country, blankets communities in hazardous smoke and sends haze across the border into Malaysia.

The suspects are being investigated in connection with 89 forest and land fire cases across five provinces on the island of Borneo and four provinces on Sumatra, according to Mohammad Irhamni, director of special crimes at Indonesia’s National Police Criminal Investigation Agency. Authorities said many of the suspects are believed to have used fire to clear land for plantations or agriculture at lower cost.

Investigators are also examining whether companies financed or ordered some of the burning. Irhamni said authorities would trace financial records to identify who may have benefited from the illegal land clearing. Those convicted could face fines and prison terms of up to 15 years.

The arrests come as Indonesia confronts thousands of fire hot spots across Sumatra and Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo. The country’s National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB, said fire activity has intensified in West, Central and South Kalimantan, while more than 1,700 hot spots were detected in South Sumatra on Sunday.

President Prabowo Subianto visited Central Kalimantan on Saturday, where more than 7,600 hectares have reportedly burned. He pledged government resources, including helicopters and water pumps, and said companies found responsible for contributing to the fires would be held accountable.

At least four companies in West Kalimantan are already under investigation for allegedly using fire to clear land, according to State Secretariat head Prasetyo Hadi. If authorities establish that the companies intentionally set the fires, they could face sanctions including the revocation of operating permits.

Firefighting operations have been expanded across the affected areas. Cloud-seeding operations resumed over Kalimantan, while helicopters have been deployed for water bombing and aerial patrols. Authorities have also increased efforts to monitor fires that may continue burning beneath the surface of peatlands.

Peat fires pose a particular challenge because flames can continue smoldering underground even after surface fires appear to have been extinguished. BNPB chief Suharyanto said sufficient rainfall is needed to rewet the peat and prevent fires from reigniting.

The crisis has also affected neighboring Malaysia. Smoke from Indonesian fires has crossed into Sarawak, where air quality has deteriorated to unhealthy and, in one district, very unhealthy levels. The Sarawak government ordered nearly 600 schools to close, affecting about 200,000 students.

The regional haze is a recurring environmental and public-health problem in Southeast Asia, particularly during prolonged dry periods and El Niño events. Indonesia’s fires have historically been a major source of transboundary smoke affecting Malaysia, Singapore and, during severe episodes, other parts of the region.

The problem is closely linked to the vulnerability of tropical peatlands. According to ASEAN, Southeast Asia contains about 60% of the world’s tropical peatlands, while Indonesia holds about 70% of the region’s peatlands. When peat is drained and dries out, it becomes highly combustible and can burn underground, producing dense smoke and releasing large quantities of carbon.

Indonesia’s current fire crisis also recalls some of the region’s most severe haze episodes. Major fires in 1997-1998, 2002 and 2005 destroyed more than 3 million hectares of peatlands across Southeast Asia, according to ASEAN. The 2015 fires again produced widespread smoke across Indonesia and neighboring countries, prompting international concern over public health, ecosystems and climate impacts.

The recurring problem led ASEAN member states to adopt the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002. The agreement entered into force in 2003 and established a framework for regional cooperation on monitoring, prevention, information sharing, early warning systems and emergency assistance. It was the first regional agreement of its kind to legally bind a group of contiguous countries to address transboundary haze caused by land and forest fires.

Meanwhile, a separate wildfire has affected the Mount Bromo area in East Java. Firefighters have mostly contained the blaze inside Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, although remaining hot spots have continued to be monitored.

Authorities said the fire had affected nearly 900 hectares of the national park, damaging dry grassland, vegetation and protected edelweiss flowers. Mount Bromo, one of Indonesia’s most famous volcanic tourist destinations, has been closed while firefighting and containment operations continue.

Two active hot spots remained at Puncak 30, a popular viewpoint, and Dengklek, near a volcano monitoring post. Officials said crews expected to extinguish the remaining hot spots and redeploy some water-bombing helicopters to other fire-affected areas.

Smoke from fires elsewhere has also disrupted daily life in Indonesia. In Pontianak, West Kalimantan, authorities suspended in-person classes after air quality deteriorated to unhealthy levels, while health officials reported an increase in respiratory illnesses.

The scale of the current fires underscores the difficulty of controlling Indonesia’s annual fire season. While authorities have increased aerial firefighting, cloud seeding and law enforcement, the combination of dry weather, land-clearing practices and extensive peatlands makes suppression difficult.

For Indonesia and its neighbors, the immediate priority is containing the fires and protecting communities from dangerous smoke. The longer-term challenge is preventing the cycle of land burning and peatland degradation that has repeatedly turned local fires into a regional environmental crisis.