A fire fighter tries to put out a fire on land intended for a palm oil plantation in the village of Tanjung Palas, Dumai, Riau province, Sumatra, Indonesia in this photo taken by Antara Foto on March 5, 2016. REUTERS/Aswaddy Hamid/Antara Foto
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's western province of Riau has declared a state of emergency over forest and land fires blazing on the island of Sumatra, a government official said on Tuesday.
The fires, which send choking smog over Southeast Asia every year, raged uncontrollably across several provinces last year, costing an estimated $16 billion (11 billion pounds), and pushed average daily greenhouse gas emissions above those of the United States.
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