A warehouse that stored chemicals in central China's Hunan Province has been on fire for 15 hours but no casualties have been reported, fire authorities said Friday.

The fire started around 7 p.m. Thursday at Xiangzhongcheng Chemical Co., Ltd. under the Liuhua Group in Zhuzhou City. Firemen rushed to the site soon after, but the fire was still burning as of 10 a.m. Friday, local government officials said.

The chemical material that caught fire is sodium hyposulfite which is widely used in the textile industry. A sodium hyposulfite fire is difficult to put out and the smoke is toxic.

Residents near the site have been evacuated by authorities.

Policemen, fire fighters and government officials are trying to extinguish the fire, and the cause of it is under investigation.