The carcass of an animal lies on the ground after a fire razed a savannah in the north-central province of San Pedro, some 350km (217 miles) northeast of Asuncion, September 17, 2007. The Paraguayan government declared a state of emergency in three northeastern provinces due to the forest fires that have ravaged thousands of hectares (acres) of forests, crops and grazing pasture. The fires that have destroyed dozens of rural homes in the poor South American country are being battled with the help of neighbor Brazil.