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View all search resultsOrange skies, ash-covered homes as wildfire smoke engulfs Palangka Raya
Air pollution in Palangka Raya remained at hazardous levels for 37 consecutive days as of Wednesday, with PM2.5 concentrations reaching 2,512 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³).
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Haze blankets Tjilik Riwut Airport in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, on Oct. 14, 2026. Airport authorities temporarily suspended flights as smoke from wildfires reduced visibility.
(Antara Foto/Auliya Rahman)
T
hick wildfire smoke has shrouded Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan in a yellow-orange haze, coating homes in ash, obscuring sunlight and leaving residents grappling with respiratory illness.
Dayak activist Emmanuela Shinta posted a video on Instagram on Wednesday showing her walking through her neighborhood in a gas mask beneath an eerie yellow-orange sky shrouded in wildfire smoke.
“It’s just 10 am in the morning and this video has no filter. It’s already so dark and yellow because of the poisonous smoke and high concentration of PM2.5,” Shinta said.
“The city has turned into a gas chamber. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape. Here we are trying to stay alive,” she added.
Susan, a resident of Palangka Raya, said ash continued to enter her home despite efforts to seal doors, windows and ventilation openings.
“We have been experiencing severe haze for three months, with visibility perhaps only around 100 metres,” Susan said on Wednesday as quoted by Metro TV.
“Almost every day, everywhere, you hear the sound of fire engine sirens. It happens every day, all the time,” she added.
