Four people were killed after getting trapped by smoke and flames as Indonesia battled its worst forest and land fires in over a decade, forcing Jakarta to accept foreign assistance to tackle the disaster blazes.
Satellites detected around 799 hotspots nationwide as of Thursday, a sharp rise from 372 the previous day, according to the forestry ministry. Most of the hotspots were in Sumatra and Borneo regions.
The raging wildfires had burned nearly 895,657 hectares across the country by August 2026, according to independent estimates. In comparison, 2,631,469 hectares burned throughout 2019.
The victims were part of a 12-member team that included national park officers, community fire brigade members, local volunteers and security personnel who were battling a wildfire in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java’s Probolinggo regency.
Strong winds fanned the flames, causing the fire to spread rapidly through dry vegetation. At about 1.30pm, firefighters operating outside the danger zone received an emergency call from colleagues who had become trapped by dense smoke and advancing flames, East Java police spokesperson Jules Abraham Abast said.
Three died at the scene, while another died on the way to hospital.
Two other people, including a volunteer firefighter, suffered serious burns and were taken to a hospital in Surabaya for specialist treatment.
“The incident occurred in a remote mountainous area, complicating rescue efforts," Probolinggo police chief Asmida Rizki Siregar, who joined emergency crews carrying victims on stretchers for almost 2km because the steep terrain prevented vehicles from reaching the site, said.
She said authorities completed the evacuation late on Thursday and launched an investigation into the deaths, including whether negligence or criminal wrongdoing contributed to the tragedy.
Investigators were collecting evidence and interviewing survivors.
Meanwhile, protests have erupted in parts of Indonesia amid growing frustration and anger over the government’s handling of the forest fires, which have blanketed cities in toxic smog as smoke billows from the blazes.
The number of respiratory illness cases linked to the fires has more than doubled in seven Indonesian provinces, rising from 113,336 on 9 September to 283,270 this week, according to the health ministry.
People took to the streets in two towns in Central Kalimantan, on the Indonesian part of Borneo island, calling for stronger government action to tackle the fires.
Anguished residents, including volunteer firefighters, gathered at a traffic roundabout, demanding that the forest fires be declared a national disaster.
They also demanded the deployment of helicopters to water-bomb blazes that ground crews could not reach, local media reported.
The local government has appeared reluctant to declare the fires a national disaster, a decision that could tighten central government oversight, improve coordination between affected provinces and accelerate the deployment of firefighting resources and relief assistance to residents.
The wildfires have threatened critically endangered Bornean orangutans.
Wildlife authorities in Kalimantan rescued a female orangutan who was starving after her habitat was razed by fire, officials said.
The orangutan, suspected to be 20 years old, was spotted by local residents earlier this week and later safely moved to a rehabilitation centre.
Authorities have so far evacuated at least 46 orangutans from fire-affected areas in West Kalimantan and other parts of Borneo.
Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto has agreed to accept help from neighbouring countries to tackle the forest fires.
“The president has already expressed his approval and the matter is currently being discussed at the technical level within the BNPB," foreign minister Arrmanatha Nasir said, referring to the Indonesian disaster mitigation agency.
The new chief of the agency, appointed on Thursday, said he was reviewing the types of assistance being offered and would decide which could be accelerated.
Last month, Malaysia offered to deploy three helicopters, an aircraft and 52 personnel to help contain the fires. There has been no follow-up since.
Singapore, another country badly affected by the haze, has said it is ready to help contain the fires.
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