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View all search resultsForest fires sweep Batam, threatening electrical supply, flights
The BMKG has urged regions across Indonesia to remain vigilant against forest fires amid forecasts of drier-than-normal weather this year.
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Haze of despair: Manggala Agni firefighters in this photo released by Antara on March 16, 2026, attempt to extinguish a forest fire in Pelalawan regency, Riau. (Antara/Manggala Agni/Handout)
F
orest fires have swept across Batam in Riau Islands in recent days, threatening critical infrastructure in the region and producing haze that has disrupted air travel.
Over the weekend, fires spread through a forest near the Batu Besar electricity substation in the provincial capital Batam, which supplies power to thousands of homes across the city.
Spokesperson for the Batam office of the state-owned utility PLN, Yoga Perdana Sulastana said the fire first broke out on Saturday and quickly advanced toward the facility.
“We immediately contacted the police and firefighters, who managed to extinguish the fire by 10 p.m. on Saturday. However, another fire broke out in a nearby area on Sunday afternoon,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Yoga added that the second fire was less intense than the first, but the risk of further blaze remains high due to the ongoing extreme heat in Batam.
As of Monday morning, firefighting teams remained on standby around the buffer zone of the Batu Besar substation.
As a short-term precaution, PLN Batam officials, together with local police, have been patrolling nearby residential areas to educate residents on the dangers of burning household waste or clearing land with fire. Authorities warned that even a small spark could ignite a major blaze amid the region’s drying vegetation.
