New tool to predict fire risks unveiled

Jakarta

A MAP using satellite technology to warn of fire risks aims at helping South-east Asian governments better deploy their resources to combat raging blazes, which cloak the region in haze every year, a specialist on forest fires said on Tuesday.

Slash-and-burn agriculture, much of it clearing land for palm oil crops, blanketed Singapore, Malaysia and northern Indonesia in a choking haze for months last year.

Updated daily, the Fire Risk Map calculates the risk of a fire catching and spreading using the latest satellite data on temperature, humidity and rainfall in the region. Drier conditions signal higher risks of blazes starting and spreading. "We expect the Fire Risk Map to help government officials and company land managers to be more proactive about fires," Susan Minnemeyer, …