are burning. firefighters have been battling this blaze for weeks. and at its peak this summer, there were thousands of similar fires in other parts of the country. the fighting on the ground and in the air. these are aerial firefighters. right now we are on a water-bombing mission. helicopters dump giant buckets of water on the flames. bombs away! this crisis was ignited by man. you think humans started this? >> yes. >> reporter: this inferno visible from space. the haze engulfed cities in neighboring countries like singapore and malaysia. in indonesia, the smog closed schools, creating apocalyptic skies.