Rudiyansah is 17 years old and has a costume he found by chance in a closet. 🦸
In Palangkaraya, Borneo, peat fires have been devouring the land for months as Indonesia goes through one of its worst seasons since 2020. There, amid the thick smoke that also reaches Malaysia and Singapore, he appears: wearing a red and blue cape, hose in hand, helping the volunteer firefighting group founded by his father. Before entering the fire, he wets every inch of his suit so he won’t get burned. Every night, he washes it. The next day, he puts it on again.
What started as fun ended up in front of millions of screens and on the lips of Indonesia’s own Minister of Forestry, Raja Juli Antoni, who called him a ‘forest hero.’ Rudiyansah doesn’t dream of superpowers: he dreams of becoming a forest ranger. In the meantime, he keeps going out to put out what others have already given up on.