Disaster

IKN Reservoir Fire Still Burning, Crews Hindered by Terrain

Stateline MEDIA Newsroom•October 18, 2026•3 min read

A forest and land fire in the Embung area of Indonesia's new capital Nusantara, East Kalimantan, remained unextinguished as of Sunday morning (10/18/2026). Firefighting is hampered by difficult terrain and limited road access. Meanwhile, haze blankets the Core Government Area, leaving the Garuda Palace barely visible, with air quality in the unhealthy category.

Key Facts

A forest and land fire (karhutla) is burning forest areas around the Embung (reservoir) in Indonesia's new capital Nusantara (IKN), East Kalimantan, about 9 kilometers from the IKN West Axis Roundabout.
Flames raged until early Sunday morning (10/18/2026) and were still visible in the forest area this morning; a joint firefighting team is still battling the blaze.
Firefighting is hampered by difficult terrain, limited road access, and dense burning material, making it hard for crews to reach the fire.
Haze from the fires has blanketed the Core Government Area (KIPP): the Garuda Palace, civil-servant flats, office buildings, and the State Mosque look faint from a distance.
Air quality around Plaza Bhinneka, KIPP IKN, is in the unhealthy category: the PM2.5 air-quality index reached 121 on Thursday (10/15) at 1 p.m. local time and had touched 150, according to IKN Authority head Basuki Hadimuljono.
Basuki said government activity in IKN continues as normal and urged people to wear masks while outdoors.
The IKN Authority is working with Dhomber Air Base and BMKG on firefighting, including deploying water-bombing helicopters and cloud-seeding operations (OMC) that have not been fully effective due to a lack of rain clouds over IKN.

Flames Still Visible This Morning

A forest and land fire (karhutla) is burning forest areas around the Embung (reservoir) in Indonesia's new capital Nusantara (IKN), East Kalimantan. The fire is located about nine kilometers from the IKN West Axis Roundabout, and flames were reported raging until early Sunday morning (10/18/2026).

According to KompasTV, flames were still visible in the forest area on Sunday morning. A joint firefighting team continues to battle the fire while monitoring its progress at several locations.

Firefighters face serious obstacles: difficult terrain, limited road access, and dense burning material make it hard for crews to penetrate the forest area to reach the fire.

Haze Covers Garuda Palace, Air Unhealthy

Haze from the karhutla has blanketed the Core Government Area (KIPP). The Garuda Palace, civil-servant flats, office buildings, and the State Mosque look faint from a distance, and visibility has dropped in parts of the government core area.

Air quality around Plaza Bhinneka, KIPP IKN, is in the unhealthy category. Environment Ministry ISPU data recorded PM2.5 at 121 on Thursday (10/15) at 1 p.m. local time, and IKN Authority head Basuki Hadimuljono said the figure had touched 150.

Basuki said government activity in IKN continues as normal and that he keeps monitoring air conditions, especially mask use. The IKN Authority is also helping fight fires in the IKN delineation area together with Dhomber Air Base and BMKG, including water-bombing helicopters and weather-modification operations (OMC) — which have not been fully effective due to a lack of rain clouds over IKN.