Tragedy in the Peatlands: Central Kalimantan Declares State of Emergency Amid Deadly Wildfires and Rising Health Crisis

PALANGKA RAYA — Central Kalimantan is once again locked in a fierce battle with nature. Thick, acrid smoke chokes the skies over Palangka Raya and surrounding regencies, plunging visibility to hazardous lows and driving air quality indices into the danger zone.

Beyond the environmental degradation and scorched earth, the ongoing forest and land fires—locally known as karhutla—have extracted the ultimate human toll. At least three frontline firefighters have lost their lives in the line of duty, pushing the province into a critical humanitarian and ecological emergency.

As the provincial government scrambles to contain the escalating crisis, civil society organizations, indigenous groups, and health advocates are raising urgent questions regarding systemic preparedness, prevention strategies, and the ongoing marginalization of traditional farming communities.

The Ultimate Price: Honoring Fallen Firefighters

The fires have proven lethal not only to the ecosystem of the vulnerable tropical peatlands but also to the brave men and women standing on the frontlines.

The tragic human cost began in late August. On August 27, Akhmad Rizani, who served as the chairman of the Neighborhood Fire Team Volunteers (Tim Serbu Api Kelurahan) in Palangka Raya, passed away after grueling days of battling the flames. Just three days later, on August 30, tragedy struck Pangkalan Bun when Ahmadin, a volunteer with the Ita Safehouse Fire Department (Damkar Rumah Singgah Ita), also succumbed to exhaustion and complications from the hazardous environment.

The losses continued into September. On September 10, Aries Sutio Luthfil Hadi (widely known as Tyo), a volunteer with the Fire-Care Community (Masyarakat Peduli Api or MPA) from Kotawaringin Lama, died while being rushed to the hospital. Tyo had been deployed at Kilometer 19 along the Pangkalan Bun–Kotawaringin Lama highway. According to reports, he suffered severe respiratory failure after working relentlessly in the dense, smoke-choked fields.

These deaths underscore the perilous conditions faced by thousands of poorly protected volunteers and local residents who form the backbone of grassroots firefighting efforts across Central Kalimantan.

Escalating Crisis: Chronology of the 2026 Disaster

The trajectory of the 2026 wildfire season points to a catastrophic convergence of extended drought, dried peat layers, and inadequate preventative infrastructure.

• Mid-August: Smoke begins rolling into urban centers. By August 19, visibility plummets to a dangerous 300 to 500 meters, severely disrupting regional flight operations and forcing local authorities to issue initial health warnings.
• Late August: The fires expand rapidly. In Tumbang Nusa, Pulang Pisau Regency, flames leap dangerously close to civilian settlements, burning aggressively near the left side of the Tumbang Nusa Bridge toward Banjarmasin. Residents report fires blazing merely 500 meters from their homes.
• August 29: Local residents, traumatized by the memories of the catastrophic 2015–2016 fires, begin deploying private motorized water pumps around their houses, preparing for potential evacuations as thick smoke blankets the region from afternoon through the night.
• August 31 – September 29: Recognizing that the situation has far outpaced local capacity, the Central Kalimantan Provincial Government officially elevates the disaster status to a one-month Emergency Response Period for Forest and Land Fires, enacted via Governor Decree Number 100.3.3.1/230/2026.
• Early September: Air quality indices (ISPU) skyrocket, forcing school closures and overwhelming local health clinics with thousands of acute respiratory infections.

Official Responses and Meteorological Realities

Following an aerial inspection by the Regent and Deputy Regent of Pulang Pisau alongside Central Kalimantan Deputy Governor Edy Pratowo, the provincial administration enacted strict measures to mobilize state resources.

Deputy Governor Edy Pratowo explained that the transition from a state of alert to a full emergency response was driven by worsening particulate pollution indices, flight cancellations, and school closures. While primary field operations remain coordinated by the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) and joint task forces—including the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), Manggala Agni, and local MPA units—the government has also deployed Civil State Apparatus (ASN) personnel to provide administrative and logistical support.

However, the meteorological outlook offers little immediate relief. According to Sugiono, Head of the Central Kalimantan Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), rainfall has remained well below normal levels, leaving the top layers of peat dangerously dry.

While sporadic rainfall is anticipated between late October and early November, BMKG warns that the ongoing El Niño phenomenon is projected to persist into early 2027, potentially stretching the dry conditions through February and March.

Supporting Data: A Public Health and Ecological Catastrophe

The immediate danger of the fires is mirrored by a sprawling public health crisis. Data compiled from the Central Kalimantan Health Office and analyzed by legal aid organizations such as YLBHI reveals that by the third week of August 2026, the province had already recorded 72,431 cases of Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI / ISPA), with Palangka Raya registering the highest infection rates.

Civil society groups note an alarming parallel to the historic 2015 catastrophe. During the 2015–2016 fires—which prompted a landmark Citizen Law Suit (CLS) won by the Anti-Smoke Movement (GAAs) of Central Kalimantan—authorities recorded over 43,000 ARI cases, thousands of diarrhea cases, dozens of traffic accidents caused by zero-visibility conditions, and 34 deaths.

Legal advocates point out that many of the court-mandated remedies from the 2015 ruling—such as the establishment of specialized lung hospitals and free medical care for smog-affected victims—remain poorly implemented, leaving vulnerable populations defenseless against recurrent smoke waves.

Systemic Flaws: The Lack of Preventative Orientation

Environmental and legal watchdogs argue that current government policies suffer from a critical flaw: they are heavily reactive rather than proactive.

Fathurrohman, a representative of the community plaintiffs in the 2015 citizen lawsuit, criticized authorities for concentrating nearly all resources on firefighting rather than year-round prevention.

"Unfortunately, our concentration is not on prevention. Our concentration is on firefighting. That is the core problem," Fathurrohman stated.

He argued that genuine prevention requires empowering local communities, including women and families, twelve months a year rather than waking up in a panic when the dry season peaks. Furthermore, Fathurrohman emphasized the need to legally separate and distinguish between non-forest agricultural plots—where community empowerment approaches are vital—and industrial forest concessions, where strict law enforcement against corporate negligence must be prioritized.

Andi Kiki of Sawit Watch Central Kalimantan echoed these sentiments, noting a distinct lack of systematic integration in the 2026 response compared to previous major fire years.

"In 2026, the impression is one of panic, as if [the government] has never learned from previous fires," Kiki observed. He stressed that true success cannot be measured merely by the number of hectares burned, but by the long-term protection of human life, health, and community livelihoods.

Shifting the Blame: Indigenous Knowledge vs. Criminalization

A central flashpoint in the ongoing policy debate centers on the criminalization of traditional farming practices. Activists argue that government policies and law enforcement agencies frequently fail to draw a clear line between shifting cultivators and illegal corporate land-clearing syndicates.

Afandy of the Borneo Berdaya Indonesia Foundation (YBBI) stressed the urgent need for legal clarity. "There must be a clear separation between who is a traditional farmer and who is an arsonist. There must be explicit terminology," he asserted. Without legal definitions that protect traditional indigenous agriculture, rural farmers risk becoming scapegoats for a crisis driven by larger systemic factors.

This sentiment was reinforced by Damai Alam Usop, Chairman of the Batang Garing Educational and Cultural Foundation (YPK-BG), and Roni Sahala of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) Central Kalimantan. They explained that the traditional Dayak practice of rotational farming utilizing controlled fire (berladang gilir balik) is governed by strict ancestral ecological knowledge. This includes constructing firebreaks, selecting specific weather windows, and maintaining round-the-clock community surveillance.

"Dayak traditional farmers are not the cause of mass forest fires. Controlled shifting cultivation is a measured form of local wisdom," Sahala stated.

Indigenous leaders are calling on the government to cease scapegoating traditional farmers and instead integrate indigenous fire-management systems directly into provincial disaster prevention frameworks.

Implications for the Future

As Central Kalimantan navigates the peak of the 2026 emergency, the fires serve as a grim reminder that technological firefighting interventions alone cannot solve a deeply rooted structural crisis.

Without a paradigm shift toward year-round peatland restoration, integrated community-based prevention, rigorous corporate accountability, and the protection of indigenous land rights, the province will remain trapped in an endless cycle of toxic smoke, economic paralysis, and tragic loss of life.