Indonesia has deployed 7,200 personnel to fight forest fires as smog from blazes spread to neighbouring Singapore and took air pollution there to unhealthy levels, an official said today.

Forest fires have been detected in at least five districts in Riau province on Sumatra island, said Sutopo Nugroho, spokespeson for the National Disaster Management Agency.

“Fires are on the rise in Riau,” he said, adding that they were the cause of Singapore’s haze.

The Straits Times newspaper reported that as of 5pm today, Singapore’s 24-hour Pollutant Standard Index stood in the unhealthy range.

Six Indonesian provinces have issued forest fire alerts on fears of a repeat of last year’s catastrophic blazes, which cost the country US$16 billion.

Forest fires are an annual hazard in Indonesia and the resulting haze often impacts neighbouring Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, driving air pollution to hazardous levels.

- dpa