‘Everything is covered in ash’: Indonesia wildfires leave people in crisis
Kubu Raya, Indonesia – As wildfires burn across Indonesia, forcing schools to close and thousands to seek medical treatment for exposure to thick haze and ash, locals in West Kalimantan say the situation is more serious than it has been in years. “I have lived here for 15 years … I have never experienced a fire like this before.
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Key Facts
- Fact 1: “I have lived here for 15 years … I have never experienced a fire like this before.
- Fact 2: “If the firefighters had not come quickly, my house would have burned down, too.” Volunteer firefighter Anas Dwi Wahyu Kurniawan says the situation is “very serious”, telling Al Jazeera that the fires this year are similar in scale to those that took place in 2016.
- Fact 3: Indonesia’s Health Ministry says 3.4 million people are at risk of respiratory infections due to exposure, adding that it had distributed more than 260,000 face masks to residents of the hardest-hit areas.
- Fact 4: Every day, between 50 and 70 people come in,” said Dr Muhammad Arief Trihapsoro, at the Sungai Durian Health Clinic.
Kubu Raya, Indonesia – As wildfires burn across Indonesia, forcing schools to close and thousands to seek medical treatment for exposure to thick haze and ash, locals in West Kalimantan say the situation is more serious than it has been in years. “I have lived here for 15 years … I have never experienced a fire like this before.
This is the first time something like this has happened,” Salma, a resident of Kubu Raya, tells Al Jazeera. El Nino set to be most intense ‘for over a century’: UK forecasters Governments brace for historic El Nino impacts on global weather extremes Wildfires burn across Indonesia as officials cite El Nino as a cause For nearly two weeks in the area, she said, fires grew and spread. “I was scared, I was afraid that I would be burned by such a big fire.
(Original synthesis pending human/AI review — generated by the stub provider by selecting real sentences from the source material, not by writing new analysis or commentary.)
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