MUNICH, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — A big fire broke out on late Saturday night in a sawmill in the southern German state of Bavaria, causing damage of at least 20 million euros (22.8 million U.S. dollars), according to local police.

According to Bavarian police, a driver saw flames coming out from one of the warehouses for wood in the district of Hof and reported to the police at about 23:00 local time (2100 GMT) on late Saturday night.

When firefighters rushed to the sawmill, one 50-meter-long hall had already been burned down. Meanwhile, flames quickly spread to neighboring halls, firm buildings and even to the forest next to it.

Up to 700 people from the fire department and police were engaged in the rescue work until Sunday morning.

The owner of the sawmill suffers a shock. There is no casualty report.

For the moment, the cause is still unknown and the damage is assumed to between 20 million euros and 25 million euros, local police reported. (1 euro = 1.14 U.S. dollar)