Deadly fires plague Southeast Asia

[USA TODAY, Sep. 24, 1997]

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Forest fires in Indonesia have spewed dangerous pollutants across much of Southeast Asia, causing two deaths, forcing schools to close and prompting the U.S. Embassy to advise its staff to leave Malaysia if necessary.

A drought blamed on the El Niño weather phenomenon has exacerbated the problem. Indonesia has tried to clear the skies by seeding clouds to produce rain; Malaysia sent 1,210 firefighters to Indonesia on Tuesday to help extinguish the fires, many of which were set deliberately to clear farm land.

Most of the fires have been burning on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, sending a choking haze over Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the southern Philippines.

In Manila today, Philippine authorities warned that the haze could provoke some people to have asthmatic reactions. "We must be cautious about possible health problems," said Frisco Nilo, a chief government forecaster.

Two Indonesians have died after suffering breathing problems, the People's Welfare Ministry said. The identities of the two or their hometowns were not released. The Jakarta Post said Wednesday they were the first officially recognized fatalities in Indonesia linked to the pollution.

Ministry official Suyono Yahya said more than 32,000 people on Sumatra and Borneo islands have suffered respiratory problems since the haze problem surfaced about two months ago. Eye and other infections also have been widespread, doctors reported.

A state of emergency in Malaysia's Sarawak state, on Borneo island, continued for a fifth day, with pollution well above the "hazardous" level.

In Kuala Lumpur, the U.S. Embassy said the State Department had authorized some 75 embassy employees and their dependents to temporarily leave the country if they were feeling ill-effects from the choking smog.

An embassy statement said American employees who volunteered to stay behind would be rotated in and out of the country "in order to minimize any possible health effects that might result from continued exposure to the unhealthy pollution levels."

Malaysian Information Minister Mohamad Rahmat said the government was studying plans to spray water from the tops of tall buildings in the capital to dissolve some of the pollutants. The government also has called on citizens to wear protective masks.

But Dr. Thambyappa Jayabalan, a medical officer with the Gleneagles Hospital in Penang, said the masks were a joke.

"These masks are absolutely useless," he said. "They can hardly hold back 10% of the pollutants."

The government's Air Pollutant Index - which measures levels of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, lead and dust particles - was at around 150 today, a level considered "unhealthy."

API levels of 201-300 are said to be "very unhealthy," and 301 to 500 "hazardous."

Kuching, the capital of Sarawak state, continues to be the worst-hit area. The API today was 651, down from the record 839 of Tuesday when residents said visibility was down to only a few feet.

When Malaysia declared a state of emergency Friday, many people heeded the government's advice and stayed indoors in Kuching. By today, they were going about their business, although many wore masks, residents there said.

The emergency does not require a curfew but schools, most factories and offices were closed. The government has said it was considering evacuating large segments of the 1.9 million people in Sarawak if the pollution worsens.

Indonesian authorities have ordered schools in the West Kalimantan province on Borneo to close. Some schools in Sumatra also have canceled or limited classes.

Airports throughout the region have been closed or their schedules disrupted because of poor visibility. Cars in some areas drive with their headlights on during daytime.

Meteorologists have blamed much of the problem on El Niñno, the eastward warming of the Pacific Ocean that appears every two to seven years believed to disrupt weather around the globe. They warn that seasonal monsoon rains needed to put out fires, clear the skies and save crops could be delayed for weeks.