A 17-year-old Indonesian named Rudiansa is helping volunteers fight forest fires on the island of Borneo, donning a Superman costume to battle the blazes. Videos of the young superhero have garnered millions of views on social media, reports infohub.kz.
Rudiansa joined a volunteer firefighting group organized by his father. One day, he saw his father preparing to fight a fire and decided to go along. Now they work together on smoking swamps and burning vegetation in the Palangkaraya area. For these outings, the teen wears the costume of his favorite superhero, Superman, and it was in this outfit that he was captured on video that went viral.
According to Rudiansa, he is happy to help local residents. In the future, he dreams of becoming a forest ranger, and for now, he urges other firefighters and volunteers to continue the fight against the flames.
The video of Rudiansa hosing down the burning forest quickly spread on social media, racking up millions of views. Even Indonesia's Minister of Forestry took notice of the teen and called him a "Forest Hero."
According to the boy's father, this season has been the toughest for his group since its founding in 2020. The water issue is particularly acute: due to drought, wells and other sources used by volunteers are drying up.
From January to July, fire in Indonesia destroyed more than 200,000 hectares of land, roughly three times the area of Jakarta. The country's authorities have deployed additional forces and aircraft to combat the spread of the flames.
Smoke from the fires has blanketed parts of Borneo, which Indonesia shares with Malaysia and Brunei. The drought linked to the El Niño phenomenon is increasing the risk of new fires and complicating the work of those trying to stop them.