Paraguay declares Wildfire emergency*

The government of Paraguay has declared a state of emergency after large
Raging Wildfires destroyed more than 100,000 hectares of forest and
agricultural land.

The country's President, Nicanor Duarte, issued the decree after the
fires worsened in four provinces.

A Russian water tanker plane has been contracted by the Paraguayan
government to help battle the fires.

The fires have been partly blamed on land-clearing and burning by
subsistence farmers.

Mr Duarte, who has been criticized for reacting too slowly, said the
state would pay to rent a Russian water-carrying aircraft that was used
to fight devastating blazes that swept Greece in August.

"With this plane, we'll be stepping up the government's work in the
northern zone," he told reporters.

Most of the fires were blamed on farmers deliberately setting small
blazes to clear lands for cotton and soybean crop planting.