‘Everything is covered in ash’: Indonesia wildfires leave people in crisis

Kubu Raya, Indonesia – As wildfires burn across Indonesia, forcing schools to close and thousands to seek medical treatment for exposure to thick haze and ash, locals in West Kalimantan say the situation is more serious than it has been in years.“I have lived here for 15 years … I have never experienced a fire like this before. This is the first time something like this has happened,” Salma, a resident of Kubu Raya, tells Al Jazeera.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3El Nino set to be most intense ‘for over a century’: UK forecasterslist 2 of 3Governments brace for historic El Nino impacts on global weather extremeslist 3 of 3Wildfires burn across Indonesia as officials cite El Nino as a causeend of listFor nearly two weeks in the area, she said, fires grew and spread.“I was scared, I was afraid that I would be burned by such a big fire. So I evacuated,” Salma said, adding that the fire “almost burned everything”.“If the firefighters had not come quickly, my house would have burned down, too.”Volunteer firefighter Anas Dwi Wahyu Kurniawan says the situation is “very serious”, telling Al Jazeera that the fires this year are similar in scale to those that took place in 201...