Irma, a 39-year-old, puts on her heavy rubber boots. She is preparing for a volunteer firefighting shift in Sungai Putri, a village on the Indonesian side of Borneo island.
She wears full safety gear and rides her motorbike into fire zones. The air is thick with toxic smoke.
Irma is part of the Power of Mama, Indonesia's first all-female firefighting team. This group protects one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth.
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Start Your News Detox"Because we are housewives, we feel its effects most," Irma said about why she joined. "I thought I had to do something about it."
The Power of Mama Team
The group has 146 women, aged 20 to 58. They come from 10 villages in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. YIARI, an NGO, formed the group in 2022.
Members get intense training. This includes firefighting, operating surveillance drones, and community outreach.
From 10 AM to 4 PM, volunteers patrol high-risk areas. They record locations and alert the Manggala Agni forestry brigade when they find hotspots.
They search plantation and forest edges. They record coordinates, take photos, and enter data into a special monitoring app. This work is often tough.
Overcoming Challenges
The hardest part has been convincing people not to "slash and burn." This is an illegal but common way to clear land for crops like oil palm. The team also works to break down village patriarchy.
Irma said the group faced criticism from men at first. Now, they work together with the community. "The men of the village would tease us: 'Are women really patrolling?'" Irma recalled. "'Why do women have to patrol? Don't you have any other duties to perform?'"
"The biggest challenge we face is how the public reacts," said Suriati, another Power of Mama member. "Sometimes they think we are showing off. They say, 'What do mother folk know?'"
When the team asks people not to burn land carelessly, they can be stubborn. "With older people especially, we have to be gentle," Suriati noted.
Ratinah, who joined in 2023, said the team explains the harmful effects when they find someone clearing land for palm oil. "We say, 'We're not stopping you from clearing the land, but could you please control the fire, so it doesn't spread?'" she explained. "We help them understand how the smoke can harm their children and families."
Battling Fires and El Niño
This year, the Power of Mama has a lot of work. Thousands of hotspots in Kalimantan have burned over 57,081 hectares. This is according to Harian Kompas.
The worst fires are on peatland. These are very hard to put out and can burn underground for weeks. "It is very difficult to put out peatland fires since the fire is below the surface," said YIARI director Karmele Llano Sanchez. "You can't see the flames, but the burning goes on." A light breeze can easily restart the fire.
This year also has a "super" El Niño, which could make the fires worse.
Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at Copernicus, noted that fire emissions and haze in Indonesia are already higher than normal. He expects a bad fire year.
Irma said it hasn't rained in Sungai Putri since late June. This adds to an existing water shortage.
"The small ditches and even the rivers have dried up," she said. "Which makes it extremely hard for us to put out the fires."
"Our only option is to gather with the locals at the edges of the plantation or the forest to keep a constant watch on the fire's progress," Irma added. "I am terrified the flames will reach residential areas. It is extremely dangerous."
Making a Difference
Erly Marlina, a 46-year-old schoolteacher, joined Power of Mama after seeing the terrible fires in 2019.
"I joined so that I might have a platform through which to express my love for environmental conservation and could take direct action in the field," she said.
Erly recalled a night operation from 2019 where her team played a key role. "Houses were about 100 meters away," she said. "We began putting out the fire after Isha evening prayer and brought it under control by 11 PM." The operation took four to five hours.
"As volunteers, we stay on guard continuously during the dry season; residents really depend on this team," Erly noted.
The Power of Mama is also making an impact beyond Borneo. In 2023, they won the Indonesian Clean Air Championship.
"Protecting the forest is one of our main objectives," said YIARI's Sanchez. "This isn't just about putting out fires. It's about seeing these women become more confident, and taking their rightful, powerful role in society."
