Paint tins were exploding into the air and flying onto the street as firefighters battled a massive fire that destroyed a paint factory and a house in Albion, in Brisbane's inner-north overnight.

The blaze started at the factory, on Tate Street, just before midnight and when 30 firefighters and 10 trucks arrived, there were huge flames billowing from the commercial business.

Despite best efforts, the fire spread to the neighbouring two-storey house believed to be used by the business. It could not be saved.

Police Inspector Daniel Bragg was one of the first on the scene and said flames were "dozens of metres" high.

"There were paint cans shooting through the air onto the footpath and there's a number of paint cans still lying on the ground," he said.

The fire was still smouldering after several hours. ( ABC News )

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services chief superintendent Lance Duncan said fire could be seen, and heard, from the station.

"We believe we've got paint drums inside, which were part of many explosions that we heard throughout the night," he said.

"We put out an advisory messages to local residents informing them of the smoke hazard and we've got scientific officers on site at the moment."

The fire was well alight by the time crews arrived, with both properties destroyed. ( ABC News )

Once the fire was under control, firefighters entered the premises to try to put out hot spots.

But the blaze was still smouldering at 7:00am.

Chief superintendent Duncan said authorities did not know yet how the fire started.

However, it is not being treated as suspicious at this stage.

Nearby residents were evacuated and firefighters are also trying to contain the run-off from the blaze.