Report: Smoke from Indonesian Wildfires Killed 3,560 People in September

A report published on Thursday by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) states that toxic smoke from wildfires killed 3,560 people in Indonesia during the previous month. The study indicates that overall air pollution-related deaths in the country increased by 42 percent in September, rising to 5,310 from an estimated 3,740 in August.

According to the Helsinki-based think tank, the September fatalities included 3,560 deaths attributed directly to toxic smoke from forest and land fires. An additional 1,750 deaths were linked to chronic, non-fire emissions from urban and industrial air pollution sources.

Regional Impact and Air Quality

• Worst-Affected Regions: Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sumatra experienced the highest impact, with fire smoke accounting for 94 to 99 percent of air pollution-related deaths in Kalimantan and over 80 percent in Sumatra.
• Java: Fatalities on the southern island of Java remained primarily connected to urban and industrial pollution sources rather than wildfires.
• Exposure Levels: The report noted that the number of citizens exposed to air quality ranging from "unhealthy" to "hazardous" reached a record peak of 58 million in September.
• Kalimantan Spike: Citizens breathing hazardous-level air in Kalimantan nearly tripled, increasing from 2.8 million to 6.4 million during the worst days of the month.

Context and Government Response

The wildfires, fueled by severe drought amid an El Nino weather pattern, have caused widespread deforestation and distributed toxic smog across Southeast Asia, elevating pollution levels in neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and East Timor.

While the government in Jakarta has faced growing criticism regarding its handling of the crisis, officials defended their response on Wednesday. Authorities reported the deployment of more than 72,000 personnel for firefighting and cloud-seeding operations, the mobilization of over 2,100 healthcare workers in severely affected areas, and the distribution of 5.3 million masks. Independent verification of the CREA casualty estimates and government response metrics should be sought through official international health and environmental monitoring agencies.