(CNN) -- A fire in Rio de Janeiro on Monday claimed a large portion of an area known as Samba City, where the floats and decorations for the city's carnival celebration are created, CNN affiliate Record TV reported.
Firefighters were fighting the blaze, which spread to several warehouses in the carnival district. The warehouses were stocked with flammable materials that are used in Rio's famous carnival celebration. Video footage showed thick black and gray smoke rising out of the large complex. Flames could be seen on some of the upper floors through the windows.
There was almost nothing left in the affected warehouses, Record TV reported. At least six floats were destroyed, the network reported.
Record TV said that area residents suspect that the fire started in a classroom where officials were hosting a class for entrepreneurial women, and that it then spread to three samba schools.
This year's carnival is slated to begin March 5. CNN
