Forestry Ministry Strengthens Forest and Land Fire Control

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Ministry of Forestry, together with a joint team, continues to strengthen efforts to control forest and land fires, particularly in areas that are still recording high concentrations of hotspots. Based on data from the Ministry of Forestry’s SiPongi system, sourced from NASA Terra/Aqua, SNPP, and NOAA-20 satellites, as of Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at 9:04 p.m. local time, a total of 395 high-confidence hotspots were detected nationwide, down by two from the previous day.

“In the six priority provinces for forest and land fire control, 134 high-confidence hotspots were recorded in West Kalimantan, 81 in Central Kalimantan, 35 in South Sumatra, 15 in Riau, four in Jambi, and none in South Kalimantan,” the Ministry of Forestry said on Thursday.

West Kalimantan recorded the highest number of high-confidence hotspots, followed by Central Kalimantan. The situation is being taken into consideration in determining priorities for patrols, field verification or ground checks, ground-based firefighting, and aerial operations.

Meanwhile, positive developments were recorded in South Kalimantan, which reported no high numbers of hotspots in the latest monitoring. South Sumatra also recorded a decrease in the number of hotspots compared with the previous day. Nevertheless, vigilance is being maintained as forest and land fire conditions can change depending on weather and fuel conditions in the field. The Ministry of Forestry reminded the public that hotspots are indications of surface temperature anomalies detected by satellites and do not necessarily represent a single fire incident.

“A single fire incident can be detected as several hotspots. Therefore, all indications must be verified through direct field checks or ground checks,” the Ministry of Forestry said.

The Ministry of Forestry’s Manggala Agni fire brigade, together with the Indonesian Military (TNI), National Police (Polri), National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), Regional Disaster Management Agencies (BPBD), local governments, communities, businesses, and other stakeholders, continues to conduct patrols, ground checks, direct firefighting, firebreak operations, mopping-up, and cooling operations.

Aerial operations are also being kept on standby. A total of 53 aircraft have been deployed to support forest and land fire control in six priority provinces, namely Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, South Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan.

Of the total, 19 aircraft are being used for aerial patrols and to support Weather Modification Operations (OMC), while 34 aircraft are being used for water-bombing operations. The deployment of aerial operations is adjusted according to hotspot developments, field verification results, fire conditions, and meteorological conditions.

The Ministry of Forestry said OMC operations remain on standby to utilize clouds with the potential to produce rainfall and help increase moisture in affected areas. In peatland areas, wetting and cooling operations remain a priority because embers can persist beneath the surface even when flames are no longer visible.

Meanwhile, PM2.5-based air quality monitoring shows varying conditions across Indonesia. Most areas remain in the good to moderate categories, but several areas in Kalimantan are still recording unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality, with some areas reaching hazardous levels. Unhealthy conditions have also been observed in parts of Sumatra.

The conditions are among the factors considered in determining control priorities, as the impact of forest and land fires is measured not only by the number of hotspots and the size of burned areas, but also by the effects of smoke on communities and daily activities.