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View all search resultsWorsening haze delays Japan firefighting mission in West Kalimantan
Observations by various monitoring agencies showed that haze from forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan has reached as far as Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, while still affecting air quality in Malaysia and Singapore.
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A Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) crew walks towards a CH-47 Chinook helicopter ahead of Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin's visit to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's (JMSDF) ship JS Kunisaki at Kijing port in Mempawah regency, West Kalimantan on Sept. 15, 2026. In his visit, Sjafrie held a limited meeting with the Japanese officers on the joint waterbombing missions to extinguish forest and land fire in the province. (Antara/Jessica Wuysang)
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ad weather and poor visibility have delayed the firefighting operations from the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) in West Kalimantan, with forest and land fires continuing to burn in several regions that resulted in haze that spread as far as Vietnam.
The JSDF arrived in West Kalimantan, one of the hardest-hit regions by wildfires in the country, on Sept. 10, carrying 300 personnel and three CH-47 Chinook helicopters. The aircrafts were slated to start joining water bombing operations on Sunday, but worsening air quality has made flight operations unsafe.
“We [planned] to water bomb today, but it [has again been] delayed due to the weather,” JSDF representative overseeing the helicopters’ mission Koga Takeshi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He added the Japanese forces has continued coordinating with Indonesian disaster-response agencies, including the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and the Indonesian Military (TNI) on the fires, weather and areas of responsibility.
The additional delay on Wednesday came as thick haze continued to blanket parts of West Kalimantan. Pontianak city as well as Kubu Raya and Mempewah regencies saw moderate rainfall, but it did little to bring air quality to healthy levels.
Southeast Pontianak district in the provincial capital of Pontianak and East Kotawaringin regency were among the worst-affected areas in the province, scoring readings of 388 and 342, respectively, in the Environment Ministry’s Air Pollutant Standard Index (ISPU) that determines the air quality in a location and its impact to human health.
Readings above 300 are considered hazardous, with pollutants posing severe health risks to humans and other creatures.
