‘Everything is covered in ash’: Indonesia wildfires leave people in crisis

Kubu Raya, Indonesia – As wildfires burn across Indonesia, forcing schools to close and thousands to seek medical treatment for exposure to thick haze and ash, locals in West Kalimantan say the situation is more serious than it has been in years. “I have lived here for 15 years … I have never experienced a fire like this before. This is the first time something like this has happened,” Salma, a resident of Kubu Raya, tells Al Jazeera. For nearly two weeks in the area, she said, fires grew and spread. “I was scared, I was afraid that I would be burned by such a big fire. So I evacuated,” Salma said, adding that the fire “almost burned everything”. “If the firefighters had not come quickly, my house would have burned down, too.” Volunteer firefighter Anas Dwi Wahyu Kurniawan says the situation is “very serious”, telling Al Jazeera that the fires this year are similar in scale to those that took place in 2016. Wildfires have been burning for more than a month, and blazes continue to spread through the hot spots of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, and Papua, as emergency crews battle the flames. On Tuesday, President Prabowo Subianto said the government had deployed dozens of helicopters, aircraft, water pumps, and thousands of personnel to battle the blazes. Indonesia’s Health Ministry says 3.4 million people are at risk of respiratory infections due to exposure, adding that it had distributed more than 260,000 face masks to residents of the hardest-hit areas. In Kabu Raya and other parts of West Kalimantan, emergency crews say they are grappling with difficult conditions as fires spread quickly through the dried-up peatland. They are also grappling with water shortages and haze hampering visibility. “From what I have experienced, it is much worse compared to previous years,” said Dwi Wahyu Kurniawan. He added that he and other volunteers “face limitations in terms of personal protective equipment, as well as emergency equipment such as portable oxygen and other supplies”, severely complicating their task of putting out the fires. “With water sources far away and inadequate equipment,” he said, “I think the situation will continue for some time unless there is a change in the weather.” The fires are having a severe impact on people’s health, with doctors saying that many patients are arriving with persistent coughs. “On a daily basis, most of the complaints from patients here are coughing and sore throats, or what we call throat inflammation.