Palangkaraya families sought cleaner air in bedrooms and volunteer shelters amid wildfire haze
Original report:
The Guardian’s November 2026 report describes families in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan retreating into sealed rooms as wildfire smoke penetrated homes. Volunteer-run shelters offered filtered air and respiratory support, while one mother described her infant’s persistent illness.
Families in Palangkaraya, Indonesia, were confining children indoors to escape smoke from surrounding forest fires, according to the Guardian’s November 2026 report. Apri Dona Yusmelita said her five-month-old son suffered repeated coughing and vomiting. Her family had spent roughly half of the preceding four months in a bedroom equipped with an air purifier, while smoke entered other rooms.
The local Indigenous organisation Ranu Welum Foundation was fundraising for clean-air shelters with purifiers, oxygen tanks and nebulisers. The report described 14 shelters, often hosted in churches or public buildings. Co-founder Roro Ardya Garini stressed that they could not replace hospitals. Volunteers also measured pollution and shared readings publicly as authorities struggled with the crisis.
The report links many fires to deliberate land clearance for crops including palm oil, with unusually dry El Niño conditions worsening the burning. Smoke also crossed national borders, reaching several south-east Asian countries. This placed Palangkaraya’s household struggles within a wider emergency involving school closures and hospital treatment for respiratory problems.
Source
the Guardian — 9 November 2026
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