Bangka. A forest fire on Indonesia's Sumatra island has razed nearly 300 homes, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate, an official said Tuesday, as the country battles devastating blazes and haze.

Residents first spotted the fire approaching their village in the Bangka Belitung province on Saturday and tried to put it out themselves with portable water pumps, Mayor Riza Herdavid told reporters.

"They thought it was taken care of. But it's peatland, and there was still a fire smouldering underneath. So, when they assumed it was over, the wind shifted and quickly drove the fire toward the settlement."

The local disaster agency said nearly 1,000 people fled the village.

"My house is gone," Leni, a 55-year-old villager now staying at a shelter with her family, told AFP.

"There's nothing left. I could only save myself and take my kids with me... I panicked and didn't have the time to grab anything," said Leni, who, like many Indonesians, has one name.

Another survivor, Haryanti, said strong winds had fuelled the flames, which ravaged homes made mostly of wood.

"I immediately ran to save myself. None of my belongings survived... only the clothes on my back," the 50-year-old homemaker said.

Mayor Riza said the village was built on what used to be peatland in a protected area, converted into a housing complex last year.

Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, but has seen stronger-than-usual blazes this year because of the drought-causing El Niño weather phenomenon, set to be one of the strongest since comparable records began four decades ago.

Experts also point to slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that have changed the naturally fire-resistant landscape of Sumatra and Borneo islands.

This year's fires have created severe haze locally, with tens of thousands of cases of respiratory illnesses, and caused air pollution spikes in Singapore and Malaysia.

To make matters worse, thick smoke in a province of Borneo has grounded water-bombing aircraft, according to the disaster agency.

President Prabowo Subianto on Monday ordered the government to mobilize maximum efforts to battle wildfires that have been raging for three months in some places.

Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said the government had deployed more than 60,000 personnel to combat fires on the ground.
 

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