RI fires affect S'pore air

RI fires affect S'pore air

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Singapore air quality hit its worst level in about six months on Friday as smoke haze from forest fire "hot spots" in neighboring Indonesia blew over the tiny island republic.

"There are a few isolated hot spots in Central Sumatra and some of them are quite near Singapore. The prevailing wind has carried some smoke haze over to Singapore," a Singapore government statement said.

The resultant smog pushed the city state's Pollutant Standards Index measure of air quality up to 69, in the moderate range, the worst level since May and one of the highest readings so far this year.

A PSI between zero and 50 is considered good. A 51-100 range is "moderate", 101-200 "unhealthy", 201-300 "very unhealthy", 301-400 "hazardous" and 401-500 "very hazardous".