Indonesia peat fire destroys nearly 300 homes in Bangka Belitung

A peatland fire on Indonesia's Bangka island destroyed nearly 300 homes after shifting winds drove flames into a residential settlement, local officials said. Residents had tried to suppress the approaching fire with portable pumps, but heat continued smouldering below the surface before the blaze re-emerged and moved rapidly through predominantly wooden houses.

Evacuation estimates differed as authorities continued registering displaced residents. Reuters cited the local disaster agency as saying about 500 people had left their homes, while Agence France-Presse and The Guardian reported nearly 1,000 evacuees. No death toll was reported in the accounts available at publication, and the differing figures should be treated as provisional rather than combined.

Officials said the settlement stood on former peatland inside a protected area that had been converted for housing. Peat can burn underground and reignite, making fires difficult to detect and extinguish. Strong El Niño conditions, drought and land-clearing practices have intensified Indonesia's fire season and contributed to hazardous haze across parts of the country and neighbouring states.

President Prabowo Subianto ordered maximum mobilisation against fires that have burned for months in some areas. The government says more than 60,000 personnel are involved nationally, but the Bangka losses show how quickly a landscape fire can become a housing emergency.