Fires in Indonesia Blanket Islands and Cities in Smog

Alan Taylor
September 16, 2019
21 Photos
In Focus

Over the past month, the annual slash-and-burn efforts to create agricultural land across Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands have led to nearly 1,000 wildfires that are generating thick clouds of smoke and haze now blanketing parts of Southeast Asia. Most of the blazes are illegal fires set to clear land for palm oil and pulpwood industries. Malaysia is pressuring neighboring Indonesia to address the wildfires and step up enforcement to prevent future illegal burns. Its air quality has officially reached “unhealthy” levels, and dozens of schools have been closed.

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Children swim in a hotel pool as haze from forest fires fills the air above Palangkaraya city in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, on September 15, 2019. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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Fire burns peatland and forest inside Sebangau National Park on September 14, 2019, on the outskirts of Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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An aerial view of peatland and forest fires, photographed during a fire patrol by the Indonesian national board for disaster management, on September 14, 2019, in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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A firefighter reacts as work continues to extinguish the fire on peatland and fields in Pulang Pisau regency, Central Kalimantan, on September 13, 2019. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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A tourist takes a picture from Kuala Lumpur Tower as the city stands shrouded in haze in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on September 13, 2019. Malaysian authorities plan to conduct cloud-seeding activities to induce rain to ease the haze. #

Vincent Thian / AP

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Haze covers the Kahayan river due to a forest fire in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, on September 14, 2019. #

Willy Kurniawan / Reuters

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Borneo orangutans are seen on Salat Island as haze from forest fires blankets the area at Marang, Central Kalimantan, on September 15, 2019. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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Fire burns peatland and fields on September 13, 2019, in Pulang Pisau regency. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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Fields and houses burn on September 13, 2019, in Pulang Pisau regency. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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A firefighter works to extinguish a fire in a forest at Rambutan village, in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra province, on September 11 , 2019. #

Abdul Qodir / AFP / Getty

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A man distributes masks to motorcyclists as haze from forest fires blankets the area in Palangkaraya city on September 14, 2019. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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Indonesian children rest at a clinic used as a temporary shelter, after they fled their homes due to the haze in Pekanbaru on September 14, 2019. #

Adek Berry / AFP / Getty

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A woman walks along a road covered in smoke due to the forest fire in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan province, Indonesia, on September 6, 2019. #

Bayu Pratama S / Antara Foto Agency / Reuters

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A villager wearing a superhero costume tries to extinguish burning peatland in Riau, Indonesia, on September 12, 2019. #

Wahyudi / Barcroft Media via Getty

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Firefighters prepare to extinguish a fire on peatland and fields on September 13, 2019, in Pulang Pisau regency, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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A fire burns on land next to a residential area in Pekanbaru, Riau province, on September 13, 2019. #

Adek Berry / AFP / Getty

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An aerial view of burning peatland and trees during a fire patrol on September 14, 2019, in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia #

Ulet Ifansasti / Getty

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Indonesian firefighters spray water to help extinguish a fire in Kampar on September 16, 2019. #

Adek Berry / AFP / Getty

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The Kuala Lumpur skyline, including the Petronas Twin Towers, is seen shrouded in haze on September 11, 2019. #

Mohd Rasfan / AFP / Getty

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Vehicles are seen on a highway in the thick haze that surrounds Pekanbaru city, Riau province, Indonesia, on September 13, 2019. #

Dedy Sutisna / Anadolu Agency via Getty / Anadolu Agency

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A masked child walks near a road as smoke and haze fill the air over Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia, on September 15, 2019. #

Afrianto Silalahi / Barcroft Media via Getty

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