Highest alert for southern ASEAN

Meteorological authorities have raised the air quality alert to the top level across part of Southeast Asia. The ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), based near Changi airport in Singapore, runs a four-step scale from zero to three, and Level 3 is triggered when there is a high risk of dense haze crossing borders. The centre issued the alert on Friday, 16 October, and posted it on its website on Saturday, 17 October, for the southern part of the ASEAN region. According to the centre, the top level applies when fires burn intensely and persistently, haze ranges from moderate to dense for two or more consecutive days, and dry weather and winds keep pushing smoke toward neighbouring countries.

Fires across Indonesian islands

Indonesia is battling severe forest fires that have damaged parts of Sumatra, Borneo and Papua. Thick smoke from the blazes is drifting across the border, particularly into Malaysia and Singapore. The haze has hung over large areas for months, according to the reports, and has been linked to school closures and a sharp rise in respiratory problems. The archipelago's dry season usually runs from April to October, and fires are a routine feature of it. This year the fires intensified because of the strong El Niño weather phenomenon, which reports cite as the main factor behind the worsening situation.

Singapore names seven companies

On Friday, 16 October, Singapore named seven Indonesian companies as responsible for the fires. According to the Straits Times, fires broke out on land managed by those firms in Sumatra, and the companies were ordered to stop burning forests and to take firefighting action. Singapore also warned that the worst could still be to come, which means the smoke may continue to reach its neighbours in the coming days. The named companies are the central focus of the government's response so far, and the reports do not describe any further penalties.

Earlier alerts this year

Similar alerts had already been triggered twice this year, on 27 March and 26 August, before the latest one. The sequence shows that the haze problem has recurred through the year rather than appearing suddenly. The timeline below sets out the dates the sources report for these alerts and for the publication of the current one.

Scope of the current alert

The current alert covers the southern part of the ASEAN region, and the sources do not give a figure for the number of people affected. Schools have closed and hospitals have seen a surge in breathing complaints in the affected areas, according to the reports. The sources describe the situation as ongoing, and the alert remains in place as the smoke continues to drift across the affected countries.