Dancers and handicapped members of the Portela samba school perform at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Juliane Almeida, queen of the drums' section of Viradouro samba school dances during carnival parade at the sambodrome, in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Dancers of Imperatriz samba school perform next to spectators at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Rio de Janeiro's Mayor Eduardo Paes, right, kisses Luiza Brunet's hands, 46, queen of the drums' section of Imperatriz samba school, at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Gracyanne Barbosa, queen of the drums' section of Mangueira samba school, performs at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009.(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Madonna, right, and Rio de Janeiro's Gov. Sergio Cabral attend the carnival parade at the Sambadrome, in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Feb.14, 2010. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

A member of Beija Flor samba school performs on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Monday, Feb.15, 2010. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Members of Mangueira samba school parade on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Dancers of the Porto da Pedra samba school perform during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Members of Beija Flor samba school perform on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Monday, Feb.15, 2010. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

A member of Beija Flor samba school performs on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Monday, Feb.15, 2010. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

A member of Beija Flor samba school performs on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, early Monday, Feb.15, 2010. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

A costumed dog with an unusually long tongue is seen during the dog street carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. Hundreds gathered in the streets during one of the many parades before Carnival, which runs Feb. 12-16. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Much of Brazil's world-famous Rio de Janeiro carnival has gone up in flames as fire destroyed warehouses holding many of the costumes and floats for this year's event.

With just a month left before the start on March 6, there is no way to fully replace them.

Seamstresses, set designers and musicians watched in tears as firefighters struggled to control the blaze near Rio's port.

Three hours after the fire, 120 firefighters had controlled the flames that appeared to have severely damaged warehouses belonging to three of the samba organisations that compete in the two-day parade, as well as the Independent League of Samba Groups that organises the event.

There are no reports of serious injuries or deaths, and the cause is being investigated.

Even before the flames were out, it was clear that four of the four-storey warehouses were extensively damaged, with two of them collapsing internally. Ten warehouses were not affected by the flames.

"Do you know what it feels like to work all day, into the night, to make this happen, and then this?" asked Graziela Goncalves Carvalho, a seamstress with one of the groups that appeared to have suffered heavy losses. "It's over. There's nothing. This carnival is over for us."

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, who plays in a samba group's percussion section, promised the city would help the groups recover and vowed that the carnival parades would go on.

"These people will put on a great carnival, and will show the energy and the optimism that Rio has," he said.

Many are already trying to bounce back, and theme developer Roberto Szaniecki said: "I've cried a lot over this, and now it's time to think about what can be saved. But I want to make this clear - we're going to get out there. We've got a carnival to put on."

PA