Fighting the Fire You Cannot See in Indonesia's Peatlands

Picture a stretch of land that looks black and cold. There are no flames, only thin wisps of smoke rising from the ground. To anyone passing by, the fire is out. To firefighters, this is where the hardest work begins, because in peatland, fire can live underground. One of their most important tools is the ground-penetrating nozzle.

Why Are Peat Fires So Hard to Put Out?

Peat forms from plant matter that builds up over hundreds to thousands of years. When it dries out, it becomes fuel stored underground. Flames on the surface can be put out, but the embers below can keep smoldering, creep quietly through the soil and reignite somewhere else.

This is one of the toughest challenges in fighting Indonesia's forest fires. A regular hose works on open flames above ground, but water sprayed from above does not always reach the embers beneath. Peat fires cannot be fought from the surface alone.

Working Like a Needle

That is where the ground-penetrating nozzle comes in. It works like a needle: the pipe is pushed into the peat, and water is pumped straight to the fire below the surface. Crews move it from one spot to the next, combing the land until the embers are fully out.

"The nozzle is the most effective tool for putting out fires burning beneath peatland," said environmental advocate Nathanael Undas, who joined volunteers on the ground in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan.

The Work We Rarely See

Fighting peat fires means long hours in heat and smoke, often on land that already looks safe. That makes protective gear as important as the firefighting equipment itself: helmets, boots, gloves, safety goggles, respirator masks and fire suits that protect crews through hours in the field.

"Today I saw how determined our friends on the front line are to stop the forest and land fires from spreading," Undas said.

The hundreds of nozzles and sets of protective gear now in use in Palangka Raya arrived through Rumah Zakat's disaster relief post and the Palangka Raya Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), as part of Langkah Berdampak with Kahf.

When the News Says the Fire Is Out

The next time you read that the number of hotspots has dropped, remember that embers may still be burning underground, and that crews are still combing the land one spot at a time. Understanding how peat fires work is a small way to honor theirs.

Read more: Standing in the Smoke: Stories from the Front Line of Indonesia's Forest Fires

#LangkahBerdampak #JalanYangKuPilih

Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia | November 2026