Most of the fires were caused by human activities during prolonged hot and dry weather. Very often, the fire stops when it reaches the undisturbed forest. In the equatorial countries such as Malaysia, the general characteristics of the climate in this region are largely determined by two factors, namely its latitudinal position and its position in relation to sea and land surfaces. The most important feature of equatorial climates is the small seasonal variation in incoming solar radiation, both in its duration and intensity. Between the two monsoon seasons there are the inter-monsoons.
Seasonal variations caused by the monsoons are mainly apparent in wind direction and rainfall.
There are two main dry periods in peninsular Malaysia, around January to March and in June to July. Both periods also correspond to the period of occurrence of forest fire in the forest plantation during 1985-1995. As such, forest managers can identify high fire risk periods and allocate resources for fire control and suppression during the dry period. In 1997, news on forest fires were hotly discussed in Malaysia due to the occurrence of haze in the region. However most of the source of haze was due to forest and agricultural fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia.