Families residing in the the villages of Zorg-En-Vlugt and La Union on the Essequibo Coast were forced to vacate their homes on Monday afternoon after a farmer set alight his farmlands causing a massive smoke to pollute the homes.

Fire fighters attached to the Anna Regina fire station along with police ranks from “G” Division rushed to assist the residents in vacating their homes as the smoke spread.

According to one resident, Lall , his wife became sick as the smoke spread along the village for several hours.

This newspaper was informed that a pregnant mother along with her child had to be rushed to the Suddie Public Hospital for medical attention.

“It sheer suffocation we going through, it’s horrible, we can’t breathe, the people lit their farmlands and left it to light and it catch a fire and started huge smoke,” another resident Jai Singh related.

Reports are that after the farmer lit the fire early on Monday, it quickly spread to almost 20 acres of land resulting in the massive smoke which affected close to two dozen homes.

Four persons were taken into police custody as firefighters battled the blaze.