Indonesia's wildfires send toxic haze across Southeast Asia

2026, September 3

Indonesia

This is becoming a significant regional air-pollution event, with smoke from forest and peatland fires in Indonesia spreading into Malaysia and the Philippines. The timing is particularly concerning because the powerful El Niño is making conditions hotter and drier.

🇮🇩 Indonesia: fires are extensive

More than 200,000 hectares of land have burned in Indonesia during 2026, with around 95,000 hectares burned in July alone. Authorities have detected thousands of fire hotspots, particularly across Kalimantan and Sumatra.

A major problem is peatland. Peat can continue burning underground for weeks, making the fires extremely difficult to extinguish and allowing smoke production to continue even when flames aren't obvious.

Indonesia is using:

🚒 Firefighting teams

✈️ Water-bombing aircraft

☁️ Cloud seeding to encourage rainfall

🚨 Investigations into companies and individuals suspected of starting fires

Authorities say some of the fires are deliberately started for land clearing, meaning El Niño is aggravating a problem that is also substantially human-caused.

😷 Malaysia is being hit particularly hard

The Indonesian smoke has crossed into Sarawak and Sabah on Malaysian Borneo.

On September 1, Kuching recorded an AQI of 399, classified as hazardous.

The deterioration has been serious enough to disrupt outdoor activities, while health authorities are reporting increased respiratory problems.

🇵🇭 The smoke has reached the Philippines

This is perhaps the more surprising part of the story.

Smoke originating around Kalimantan has been transported by prevailing winds through the region and into the Philippines. Parts of Metro Manila have recorded unhealthy levels of fine particulate pollution.

Philippine health authorities have advised people to:

wear masks when necessary;

reduce strenuous outdoor activity;

monitor official air-quality readings;

take extra precautions if experiencing respiratory symptoms.

🌏 It could spread farther

Forecasts indicate that the haze could move toward southern Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam if Indonesian fire emissions remain high. Scientists warn that the resulting air-quality problems could persist for weeks.