Mention "bush fire" and Australia comes to mind. Each summer, hot and dry weather make bushfires a part of life there. But what about in Singapore?

We may not have much "bush", but as a "garden city", we do have quite a few grassy areas, and sometimes, in certain conditions and circumstances, they catch fire. There were 350 grass fires during the period between April 2005 and March 2006. In fact, there was a record high of over 600 bush fires between January and March 2005 alone. The fires ranged in size from approximately one basketball court to as large as 15 football fields. The situation was serious enough to warrant mobilizing military helicopters – they were put on standby to help firemen fight the fires. Not surprisingly, these fires coincided with a prolonged hot and dry spell, when there was little water in the air and in the soil, with searing heat and little rainfall.

Living in the urban environment that is Singapore, it is inevitable that many of these fires occur near residential areas, industries and farms. And any fire, big or small, is a danger to lives and property. What's more, the smoke from the fire reduces the quality of the air we breathe.

To help and support SCDF, NParks, SLA and HDB in planning for and fighting these grass fires, MSD met with these agencies to explore developing a meteorological fire risk index for Singapore. This index shows the possible fire danger by showing pertinent weather information on dry spells and periods of low precipitation.

The index is updated and placed on the NEA website daily, so that SCDF and the other partners can identify potential hot-spots in hot and dry weather. With this index, SCDF and NParks can now anticipate areas that require attention and take precautionary measures and preparations to prevent future bush fires. It is currently made accessible to SCDF personnel on a trial basis.

SCDF has so far found the system very useful and is pleased with it.

"It gives a good indication of the dryness level and correspondingly the fire danger potential," noted Cpt Lim Siew Lian of Operation Plans & Policies Branch, SCDF. "Having gone through a few versions after seeking feedback from our ground forces, the latest GFI is now even more precise – being able to provide the fire danger potential based on geographical location."

MSD's contribution to keeping Singapore's air clean via early-warning systems also extends to the region. It hosts the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) which alerts the ASEAN region of an outbreak of land/forest fires, provides assessment of weather conditions and monitors the spread of hotspots and smoke haze for the entire ASEAN region, and provides satellite pictures of "hotspots", together with the coordinates of the hotspots, to Indonesian authorities.