'Truly scared': Blazes outpace firefighters in Indonesian Borneo

'Truly scared': Blazes outpace firefighters in Indonesian Borneo

They are fighting a perilous battle with limited weapons against fires blamed in part on a stronger-than-usual episode of the El Nino climate phenomenon parching Southeast Asia. Experts also blame climate change, decades of forest degradation and slash-and-burn land clearing practices that have changed the naturally fire-resistant landscape. "We are exhausted. Sometimes we carry out firefighting until dawn. Sometimes we don't sleep," said Sampe …

‘Truly scared’: Fires overwhelm exhausted crews across Indonesian Borneo

SINTANG, Indonesia: Indonesian firefighters are struggling to contain a growing wave of fires across Borneo, working through the night with limited equipment as flames consume peatlands and thick smoke blankets nearby communities. Fire crews in West Kalimantan province are battling fires that have been fuelled by unusually dry conditions linked partly to a stronger-than-normal El Niño weather pattern affecting Southeast Asia. Environmental exper…