Indonesia Haze: 1,104 Hotspots, Estimated 1,700 Deaths And Foreign Aid Rejected

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Things are looking worse in Kalimantan as the man-made forest and peat fires rage on through mid-October 2026

Residents of Indonesia’s Borneo island have been posting videos and photos in real-time about the situation, showing the toxic air quality they’ve had to endure for months.

Right now, it looks not much different than a post-apocalyptic world usually seen in films.

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Latest update: Fire hotspots have surged to over a thousand

The number of fire hotspots in Indonesia have quadrupled to 1,104 since Monday (19 October).

According to Malay Mail , Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry said forest and land hotspots rose from 270 on Saturday (17 October). Central Kalimantan recorded the sharpest increase from just 92 to 495 hotspots, while West Kalimantan’s increased from 22 to 174.

It was also reported that the ministry said the sharp increases followed several days of relatively low hotspot counts in Central and West Kalimantan despite ongoing firefighting operations.

According to the ministry, approximately 61 aircraft remained deployed in the two provinces, including 44 for water bombing and 17 aerial patrols and weather modification operations.

South Sumatra recorded 51 hotspots on Monday, 19 October, an increase of nine on Saturday, 17 October, while South Kalimantan registered 19 hotspots from two. Jambi recorded nine after reporting none on the day before, and Riau remained at zero hotspots.

According to Indonesian state news agency Antara, the country’s transport ministry said that the haze had also affected 2,458 domestic flights nationwide between 11 August and 17 October.

An estimated 1,700 deaths caused by fire-related haze

With air quality dropping to hazardous levels, it’s natural that many in the affected areas would get ill, and in worst case scenarios, prolonged exposure to high levels of polluted air would cause death from health complications.

According to a Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) analyst report dated 14 September 2026, fire smoke and land fires (karhutla) caused 1,700 deaths in August alone.

This is alongside 2,000 deaths from chronic non-fire pollution.

The CREA also reported that Indonesian authorities recorded over 280,000 respiratory problems in haze-affected regions since 18 August 2026, with over 40,000 cases involving toddlers (pneumonia, bronchitis, and severe coughs).

Regular pollution from power generation, industrial emissions, transport, and other non-fire sources have also contributed to thousands of deaths in Indonesia, with Java dominating the total air pollution-related deaths in August at 1,600 deaths.

Indonesia puts international aid on hold, says they can handle the crisis themselves for now

Malaysia and several other countries have offered to send aid to Indonesia in efforts to extinguish the fires that are causing haze affecting the Southeast Asian region.

However, the New Straits Times reported on 20 October that the Indonesian government has put all offers of foreign assistance on hold as the republic has yet to declare the situation a national disaster.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman told the press that the Indonesian government is confident in its ability to manage the country using its own resources.

“For now, we are still capable. Our country is still capable,” he said during a press conference recently.

He acknowledged the offer of assistance from Malaysia, saying he would be forthcoming if the situation were to be declared a national disaster.

“It is not a question of assistance, but there are also many technical challenges on the ground, including fuel distribution and other logistical issues,” he added.

On 15 October, Indonesian Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir was quoted as saying that Prabowo had approved offers of assistance from neighbouring countries to help combat the widespread forest and land fires, and that the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) was holding technical-level discussions on implementation.

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