Four Killed as Indonesia Faces Worst Forest Fires in Decade

Four people tackling a wildfire in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park in East Java were killed after being caught in flames on Thursday, Indonesia's Forestry Ministry said on Oct. 16. Two other people suffered serious burns in the same fire and are receiving medical treatment. Indonesia is battling its worst forest fires in more than a decade, according to Al Jazeera.

The Forestry Ministry detected 799 high-confidence hotspots nationwide as of Thursday night, up 427 from the day before, Al Jazeera reported. The islands of Sumatra and Borneo are the worst affected. President Prabowo Subianto has called for stronger firefighting efforts as forest and land fires continued, demanding that all available resources be used, according to a Cabinet Secretariat report on Oct. 13.

Prabowo has approved accepting help from neighbouring countries to tackle the fires, Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir said. Malaysia offered last month to send three helicopters, an aircraft and 52 personnel, while Singapore has said it is ready to help, Al Jazeera reported. In an Oct. 13 report, Jakarta had not yet discussed plans to accept foreign assistance or to declare a national disaster, according to Reuters. In an Oct. 15 report, authorities said they would consider offers of foreign assistance, according to Reuters.

The government intensified its forest and land fire response across six provinces, with a reported total area of 639.23 hectares. On Oct. 12, the Cabinet Secretariat reported that Prabowo ordered special attention to forest and land fires in Tanjung Puting National Park. The government will coordinate a response to a West Kalimantan fire lawsuit in which plaintiffs are seeking comprehensive environmental restoration and stronger fire prevention and response measures, according to Antara.