Indonesia Deploys 64 Aircraft and Around 54 Thousand Personnel to Tackle Wildfires

Jakarta: The Indonesian government has deployed 64 aircraft and 54,394 personnel to tackle forest and land fires across various parts of the country since August, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said.

"From the air to the ground, all available resources continue to be deployed. Every effort is being made to extinguish the fires, mitigate the impacts of smoke, and, most importantly, protect communities from the threat of forest and land fires," said Teddy, quoted from Antara, Monday, 21 September 2026.

In an official post cited on Sunday, September 20, Teddy explained that the vast areas involved and challenging peatland conditions pose significant hurdles to firefighting efforts. Nevertheless, the government continues its efforts to address the situation.

The deployment comprises 55 aircraft from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and nine from the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), all continuously carrying out water-bombing operations.

Meanwhile, the 54,394 personnel comprise members of the TNI, the National Police (Polri), the Ministry of Forestry, the BNPB, Regional Disaster Mitigation Agencies (BPBD), Manggala Agni firefighting units, volunteers, and local residents.

A total of 14,759 personnel are involved in various firefighting efforts in West Kalimantan, 14,382 in Riau and the Riau Islands, 11,026 in South Sumatra, 5,984 in Jambi, 4,686 in Central Kalimantan, and 3,557 in South Kalimantan.

Forest and land fires have broken out in various regions of Indonesia as the country faces an increasingly intense dry season amid the El Niño phenomenon.

The Indonesian government has designated six provinces as priorities: Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Riau, South Sumatra, and Jambi.

According to data from the Ministry of Forestry's SiPongi system, sourced from NASA's Terra/Aqua, SNPP, and NOAA-20 satellites, a total of 1,323 high-confidence hotspots were detected nationwide as of Saturday September 19, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB).

The figure represents an increase of 777 hotspots from the 546 recorded on Friday, September 18, 2026.