Channel NewsAsia 4 Mar 10;
SINGAPORE: The prolonged dry season sparked off a fire on Wednesday that took Civil Defence officers some four hours to bring under control.
The fire at an open field at Tampines Street 72 started around 5.30pm.
Some 30 firefighters and four water jets were deployed to fight the blaze.
SCDF said the present dry spell has seen outbreaks of grass, lallang and vegetation fires.
In the first two months this year, SCDF responded to 147 such fires.
However, it said the figure is relatively low compared to the 341 cases for the same period last year.
There were 182 such fires for January 2009 and 159 in February 2009.
For the whole of 2009, there were 523 vegetation, an increase of 97 cases from the 426 in 2008.
SCDF said the vegetation fires that took place this year were generally of small scale.
Should the dry conditions and high temperature continue, occurrences of such fires may increase.
In view of this, SCDF urge the public to help minimise such fires by observing the following:
a. Not to throw lighted materials such as cigarette butts and matches onto grass patches/fields and rubbish dumps;
b. Not to dispose of rubbish/discarded materials/items at grass areas/fields/gardens. Rubbish dumps provide sources of fuel to sustain fires;
c. Not to operate equipment that generate excessive sparks or heat in dry vegetation areas;
d. And home owners with grass compounds should keep grass trimmed and watered. Dead leaves should be properly disposed of.
- CNA/yb
Large fire at open field in Tampines
Straits Times 4 Mar 10;
BLACK smoke billowed outside residents' homes in Tampines Street 72 yesterday evening, after a large fire ignited in a field nearby.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it had received a call informing it of the fire at about 5.30pm and had dispatched five fire engines, two Red Rhinos and three support vehicles.
The fire, covering an area the size of about 1sqkm, was brought under control using four water jets. But winds exacerbated the situation. Last night, some 30 firefighters were still battling the blaze. No one has been hurt.
Over the last two months, the SCDF has responded to 147 bush fires - still relatively low compared to last year. In January last year, there were 182 bush fires while there were 159 the following month.
The National Environment Agency's Meteorological Services Division says Singapore received just 6.3mm of rain - the lowest for February since 1869, when rainfall records began here.
While usually a dry month, conditions last month were made worse by the El Nino weather phenomenon.
The weather pattern, which occurs every two to seven years, is caused by the abnormal warming of the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The highest maximum temperature of 35.2 deg C was recorded on Feb 26, just below the record set on March 26, 1998, when the mercury hit a sizzling 36 deg C.
SUJIN THOMAS
Related link
Bushfire the size of a football field rages at Tampines from The Lazy Lizard's Tales.
