At least five people were hurt, one of them seriously, when a Carnival float caught fire at a parade on Sunday in Kehl in south-western Germany, police said.
One person suffered such severe burn injuries that he had to be taken to hospital in a rescue helicopter.
A police spokesman said that an explosion on the trailer is suspected of having caused the blaze.
To save themselves from the flames, several people jumped off the float and onto the street. Police said the truck with the float trailer was badly damaged.
The parade, which tens of thousands of people had turned out to watch, was stopped after the incident.
Kehl Mayor Wolfram Britz rushed to the scene of the accident immediately after the fire department was alerted at 3:10 pm (1410 GMT).
Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze. The police have launched in investigation into the cause of the fire.
Kehl sits on the Rhine river opposite of the French city of Strasbourg.
