Toxic haze from weeks-long wildfires is blanketing parts of Indonesia and spreading across South East Asia amid a severe “super” El Niño. Health ministries have recorded over 50,000 respiratory infection cases between July and August, while all-female volunteer firefighting teams battle stubborn peatland blazes on Borneo.
Millions of people across large swathes of South East Asia are facing severe air quality crises as weeks-long wildfires continue to burn across Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo. The smog has fuelled acutely unhealthy
pollution more than 15 times the World Health Organization’s recommended level in some areas, spreading across national borders into Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.
The Onset of a Severe Fire Season
The ongoing fires have been burning since mid-July, underpinned by a so-called Super El Niño that is severely exacerbating drought conditions across the region. Thousands of hotspots in Kalimantan have so far burned 57,081.33 hectares, according to data cited from Harian Kompas. The worst blazes are concentrated on peatland, which burns below the surface and is notoriously difficult to extinguish.
Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at Copernicus, noted that seasonal fire emissions and regional haze are already higher than normal, pointing toward a bad fire year.
Impact on Communities and Public Health
The human toll is mounting rapidly. Between July and August, Indonesia’s Health Ministry recorded over 50,000 cases of respiratory infections linked to land and forest fires, with more than 12,000 of those cases affecting children under the age of five.
Classrooms and homes offer little refuge. Rizma Nur Fatimah, a 19-year-old teaching assistant in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, reported that the smog inside her classroom became so thick you couldn't even see your own feet.
“Even inside the house, with everything closed, the haze still got in. We’ve been living with this since I was born. It’s the same every year, so we’ve almost become resigned to it. But this year is worse.”
In nearby Pengayuan village, Misbah reported that her three-year-old daughter developed a cough, a sore throat and a runny nose
during the haze. Similar health impacts are echoing thousands of kilometres away in Malaysia, which has reported rising cases of asthma and conjunctivitis, and in the Philippine island province of Palawan, where residents are experiencing mild headaches, itchy eyes, nose and throat, and sudden allergies.
The Frontline Response of the Power of Mama
Amid the worsening crisis, an all-female firefighting unit known as the Power of Mama is stepping up to protect vulnerable ecosystems. Formed in 2022 by an NGO called YIARI, the group consists of 146 women aged 10 to 58 across 10 villages in West Kalimantan. Members receive rigorous training, from firefighting to operating surveillance drones and conducting community outreach.
“Because we are housewives, we are the ones that feel its effects most,” Irma says of what motivated her to join, “I thought I had to do something about it.”
From 10am until 4pm, volunteers patrol high-risk areas, record coordinates, take photographs, and log hotspots into a monitoring app to alert the Manggala Agni forestry brigade, a specialized unit under the forestry ministry.
Overcoming Local Resistance and Patriarchy
Operating in rural areas brought initial friction. Members report that village men initially met their patrols with skepticism and teasing about women taking on firefighting duties.
Beyond breaking down the village patriarchy, the volunteers must confront residents who continue to rely on illegal slash and burn
practices to clear land cheaply for crops like oil palm. Rather than confronting landowners aggressively, members like Ratinah focus on education.
“We say, ‘We’re not stopping you from clearing the land, but could you please control the fire, so it doesn’t spread?’ We help them understand how the smoke can harm their children and families.”
Drought Conditions Deepen the Threat
The current dry spell is severely hampering firefighting efforts on the ground. Irma noted that it has not rained in Sungai Putri since late June, causing local water sources to vanish.
The small ditches and even the rivers have dried up,
Irma said, Which makes it extremely hard for us to put out the fires.
With water scarce, volunteer teams are forced to maintain constant vigils alongside local residents at forest and plantation edges, facing the persistent danger of flames reaching residential neighborhoods as the super El Niño season continues.