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Disaster · Wildfire · Impact 3 Serious

Indonesia's forest fires spark haze health crisis across Southeast Asia

· ≈ Sumatra, Indonesia · confirmed by 2 outlets

Massive wildfires in Indonesia show no sign of easing, and toxic haze has spread to neighbouring countries, creating a public health and pollution crisis.

Location
≈ Sumatra, Indonesia · Indonesia live map
Coordinates
≈ 1.50°S 102.00°E
Reported
16 Oct 2026, 15:26 UTC
Category
Disaster · Wildfire
Impact
3 of 5 · Serious
Situation
Indonesia fires
See it on the live globe → France 24 ↗France 24 ↗BBC Science & Environment ↗

Indonesia fires right now

■ Steady

Months of Indonesian fires blanket Southeast Asia in haze; fires spread across New Guinea

On Thursday NASA reported unusually high fire emissions on both sides of New Guinea, where human-set fires are spreading through drought-parched land. Earlier, on Tuesday, the BBC reported from Borneo that months of fires in Indonesia have covered Southeast Asia in haze and made hundreds of thousands of people sick.

  • NASA reports unusually high fire emissions across New Guinea.
  • The fires there are human-set and are burning in a landscape parched by drought.
  • Haze from Indonesian fires has sickened hundreds of thousands of people, the BBC reports.
Updated 23 Oct 2026, 13:29 UTC · Written by Claude from the reports on this page and on the map. Check the linked sources for full details.

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