April 16, 2026 | 10:14 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A STONE’S throw from his home, Budi Darmawan stood in shock as flames flickered from behind the forest near his village in Dusun Tiga Parit Panjang, Teluk Lancar village, Bengkalis Regency, Riau, on Friday night, April 3, 2026. The embers themselves were not visible, but sparks rose high above the tree line that shielded the settlement.
“That fire was the biggest since the long dry season began this year,” said the 33-year-old, who also serves as head of the hamlet, when contacted on Monday, April 6, 2026. It did not take long for the flames to spread to community plantations. The forest and land fires expanded rapidly as embers moved swiftly across the parched peatland, which was about one meter deep.
Someone returning from the fields brought word to Budi. The man warned that the fire was moving toward the village. Residents immediately rushed out of their homes to assess the threat. They feared the flames would cross the canal at the edge of the settlement, which had been built as a barrier against the spread of fire.
Unfortunately, there was no water pump available to extinguish the fire. That night, the villagers relied only on agricultural sprayers typically used to kill weeds. One by one, men and women carried 20-liter tanks on their backs. Through the night, they struggled to battle the fire with whatever tools they had.
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