Indonesia fires: The volunteer firefighters risking their lives to defuse 'carbon bombs' - BBC News

Peat fires in Borneo are releasing ancient stores of carbon - and sending a toxic smog across South East Asia.

Image source, Ahmad Dhani for BBCImage caption, Fahrin Ramadhianto has been fighting Borneo's wildfires for a month - and noticing the impacts on his body.

The sky grows heavy in Borneo, though not with rain. The air, amber-hued and treacle-thick, is smudged under a blanket of smog that has spilled across international borders – to Singapore, Manila, Kuala Lumpur.

Down on the ground, smoke steams from the soil.

It's like tear gas, says Dwi Sujatmoko.

"It hits your nose straight away, your eyes burn – that's more or less what it's like," he says. "People say these fires are extraordinary because of the flames and the smoke. And they're right."