BANGKA, Indonesia: 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 smold

Source: Arab News