Four People Fighting Java Wildfire Killed as Indonesia's Hotspot Count Jumps to 799

Since January, almost 900,000 hectares have burned across Indonesia in its worst fire season in more than a decade. On Friday, Oct. 16, the country put a human toll on the firefighting itself.

Four people battling a wildfire in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java were caught in the flames on Thursday, the Forestry Ministry said. Two others suffered serious burns and are being treated. The ministry has not identified the dead.

It described the victims as officers, volunteers and residents on the fire lines. In its statement it called the deaths "a reminder that extinguishing forest and land fires is a high-risk operation" and said safety "must be the main concern." That includes tracking how a fire spreads and which way the wind blows, and keeping evacuation routes ready.

Hotspots surge

Satellite monitoring detected 799 high-confidence hotspots nationwide as of Thursday night, the ministry said. That is up 427 from the day before.

The ministry itself cautioned that hotspots are not the same as fires, since one blaze can register as several. Even so, the one-day jump is steep.

Sumatra and Borneo, the islands closest to Singapore and Malaysia, are the worst affected.

Foreign help approved

President Prabowo Subianto has approved accepting help from neighboring countries, Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said. Singapore has said it is ready to assist.

Malaysia offered last month to send three helicopters, an aircraft and 52 personnel. There has been no follow-up, according to Reuters. Jakarta has not said when or whether that offer will be taken up.

Haze across the region

The smoke is no longer Indonesia's problem alone. Haze has reached Singapore, Malaysia and as far as the Philippines. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur were ranked among the most polluted cities in the world in the past week.

Malaysia's Firefly has cancelled flights to Singapore over the haze. Schools have closed in Malaysia, and Timor-Leste said it would shut schools nationwide for three days starting Thursday.

Singapore has rolled out subsidies for haze-related medical treatment, a measure last activated in 2015 when similar fires burned. It has also started distributing N95 masks to eligible residents.

Inside Indonesia, Reuters reports the fires have caused respiratory problems for hundreds of thousands of people. Tens of thousands have sought treatment for respiratory illness linked to the haze.

What Jakarta has tried

The government has tried cloud seeding, water bombing and army deployments. Coordinating security minister Dudung Abdurachman said dry ice would be dropped over South Sumatra on Thursday, "under the president's direct instruction." A Cessna was reportedly set to disperse 1.5 tons of it over Palembang.

"We will first observe the results, and if effective, there is a possibility that this method could be implemented in other regions," Dudung said, as quoted by the state news agency Antara.

Rick McRae, an adjunct professor in the University of New South Wales bushfire research group, sees limited upside. "It's got some potential for local relief that might work for a while," he said. The weather systems moving east to west, he noted, mean cleared smoke in one place can be replaced by smoke from elsewhere. No results from the trial have been announced.

Criticism and causes

Critics say the response has been inadequate. A class action lawsuit filed last week accuses the government of "gross negligence." The suit's claims are allegations, and the government has not conceded them in anything cited here.

On causes, the Guardian points to a strong El Niño season, which it called "godzilla," along with the continuing practice of slash-and-burn land clearing for crops such as palm oil. Those two factors do not point the same way on responsibility. One is weather. The other is a land-use practice that Indonesian authorities regulate and have been criticized for failing to police.

Prabowo has ordered firefighting efforts stepped up and called for a crackdown on those suspected of starting fires. The ministry's own message on Friday, however, focused on firefighter safety.

What comes next

Three things are open. One is whether Malaysia's helicopters and personnel actually deploy now that Prabowo has signed off. Another is whether the dry-ice trial over Palembang produces any measurable improvement in air quality. The third is whether the hotspot count keeps climbing after Thursday's 799.