JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com—President Prabowo Subianto has ordered authorities to intensify efforts against forest and land fires (karhutla) across six Indonesian provinces. Crews continue tackling approximately 639 hectares of burning land.

Prabowo issued the instruction during a hybrid limited Cabinet meeting at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday, Oct. 12. Officials focused the discussion on Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra. Conditions remained more severe there than in the other priority provinces.

The six provinces covered by the government’s peatland-fire response are Central Kalimantan, South Sumatra, South Kalimantan, Jambi, West Kalimantan and Riau.

“The main focus is currently on two provinces, namely Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra,” Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a written statement.

The governors of Central Kalimantan and South Sumatra attended the meeting. Alongside them were the regional military and police chiefs from both provinces.

The government said ground operations involved more than 60,177 personnel from various agencies. According to the State Secretariat, fire crews extinguished, on average, more than 80 percent of the newly burned area recorded each day.

Authorities also deployed aircraft to areas where ground teams faced difficult access or limited water supplies.

“Air operations through water bombing in several regions are also continuing to accelerate the extinguishing process,” Teddy said.

The reported 639.23 hectares refers to land still undergoing firefighting operations as of Oct. 12. It does not represent the cumulative area burned during the 2026 fire season.

Conditions in Riau, West Kalimantan, Jambi and South Kalimantan have improved, the government said. However, Central Kalimantan remained the most affected of the six priority provinces.

The Forestry Ministry recorded 437 high-confidence hotspots nationwide as of 9 p.m. on Oct. 9, based on data from several satellite systems.

Peat fires are particularly stubborn. Flames and embers can smolder unseen underground long after firefighters have extinguished the visible fires. In addition, limited road access and strong winds could also delay or prevent ground operations or water-bombing flights.

Authorities are continuing weather-modification operations to seed suitable clouds and generate rainfall over fire-prone areas. The program depends on the presence of clouds with enough moisture, meaning it cannot produce rain under all atmospheric conditions.

The strategy comes as dry weather persists across much of Indonesia. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded 261 hotspots in Sumatra and 212 in Kalimantan in Oct. 4. Satellite imagery also detected smoke across several provinces.

BMKG said a strong El Niño had prolonged dry conditions and raised the risk of forest and peatland fires.

BMKG expects the 2026–2027 rainy season to begin later than usual across much of the country. Most regions are likely to enter the season in November or December, although the timing will differ between climate zones. BMKG has urged authorities to maintain fire preparedness throughout October.

“The President requested that karhutla [forest and land fire] response efforts continue to be strengthened and that all resources be deployed optimally to accelerate extinguishing operations and prevent the fires from spreading,” Teddy said.

The instruction keeps suppression efforts concentrated on active fires while weather-modification operations seek to reduce the risk of new outbreaks.

Authorities will need to maintain patrols after they extinguish visible flames. This is because underground peat fires can reignite during prolonged dry conditions.