Indonesia has faced a wave of forest and land fires for several days now, affecting multiple regions of the archipelago simultaneously, against a particularly unfavorable climate backdrop marked by an exceptionally long and intense dry season. The most emblematic flashpoint of this crisis lies in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park on the island of Java, where a fire that broke out on Monday August 3 continues to spread despite efforts to contain it.
The fire, which began near Mount Bromo, an active volcano and one of East Java’s most visited tourist destinations, has already burned through roughly 176 hectares of vegetation. The area is particularly famous for its caldera, nicknamed the sea of sand, which draws thousands of visitors each year eager to admire this unique volcanic landscape. As the flames continued to spread, authorities decided on the evening of Saturday August 8 to fully close the national park to all tourist activity, a measure that remains in effect until further notice. No injuries or property damage have been reported so far, according to local authorities.
On the ground, mobilization remains substantial. About 200 firefighters, forest rangers, police officers and soldiers are currently engaged in fighting the Mount Bromo fire, backed by three water bombing helicopters working to slow the flames’ advance from the air. Nationwide, nearly 48,000 firefighters have been deployed across the archipelago to tackle the numerous active fire fronts, a figure that illustrates the scale of the crisis the country is facing this year.
The consequences of these fires extend well beyond the environmental sphere alone. Dozens of schools have been closed for a second consecutive day, particularly in West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, which Indonesia shares with Malaysia and the sultanate of Brunei. The mayor of the city of Pontianak ordered schools closed because of toxic smoke from outlying fires now blanketing the city, posing a health risk to the population, particularly children.
Given the scale of smoke spreading across the region, Indonesia has stepped up its firefighting operations, notably deploying cloud seeding aircraft across six priority provinces. This technique, which involves artificially triggering rainfall by dispersing certain substances into clouds, aims to slow the spread of toxic smoke that could affect not only Indonesian territory but also neighboring countries in the region.
This critical situation is largely explained by the intensification of the El Niño climate phenomenon, which is affecting Indonesia with particular severity this year. This naturally recurring phenomenon, which returns every two to seven years, involves a warming of surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, triggering major shifts in wind patterns, atmospheric pressure and precipitation worldwide for several months at a time. According to Indonesia’s meteorological agency BMKG, most models predict an exceptionally strong El Niño episode this year, potentially the strongest ever recorded.
Figures released by Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry already reflect the considerable impact of this phenomenon on the country. More than 107,000 hectares of land were affected by fires between January and June of this year, a 110 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023, the last time a significant El Niño episode occurred. This trend raises concerns that the situation could worsen further in the coming weeks, with the dry season still far from over across the archipelago.