A 26-year-old Brisbane man has died in an early morning fire that ripped through a hotel at Pittsworth near Toowoomba on Queensland's Darling Downs.

Key points: Fire at 2.30am at Tattersalls Club Hotel, near Toowoomba

Fire at 2.30am at Tattersalls Club Hotel, near Toowoomba 12 guests were staying there, 11 escaped

12 guests were staying there, 11 escaped A Brisbane charity worker, 26, confirmed killed

Fire investigators sift through debris at Pittsworth's historic Tattersalls Club hotel. ( ABC News: Andrew Kos )

Twelve people were inside the renovated, historic two-storey hotel when the blaze broke out about 2:30am (AEST) on Thursday.

Eleven people were able to escape after being alerted by a fire alarm, but one person was reported missing.

Police later said the remains of a charity worker had been found.

"[He] was working with a group that provides services for charity," Detective Inspector Dave Isherwood said.

"They were all in their rooms. We don't really know why he didn't get out at this stage."

It is understood the man was staying with a group at the hotel for just one night.

The Tattersalls Club Hotel, which was built about 1900, was engulfed by flames by the time fire crews arrived.

More than 25 firefighters were called to contain the blaze.

Firefighter Shane Rankine said the blaze made it impossible to search for the missing man straight away.

"It was far too dangerous for fire crews to make an internal attack, so we were in defensive mode," he said.

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Service said the building was fitted with working smoke alarms.

'It looked like a big ball of fire'

Local caravan park manager Doris Fowler said residents were woken by loud explosions.

"It was just one explosion after the other," she said.

The Tattersalls Club Hotel was built about 1900. ( Tattersalls Club Hotel website )

"Everyone thought it was the same thing - that there was a firecracker going off or people mucking around - but once we got outside and saw the lights in the sky, we realised it was a fire.

"It just looked like a big ball of fire."

She said she was about a block away from the blaze.

"It just lit up in the sky and you could just see the flames and fire," she said.

"It was 2:30 in the morning so it was dark ... it was just like a big firecracker, a big explosion."

She said people had been worried it could reach a petrol bowser at a transport company across the road.

"We were concerned if it jumped the street ... we were thinking if it gets there well the whole place will going to go up, so we were watching to see what happened," she said.

"Everyone always sort of wanders up to the Tatts - we always refer people if they want a meal - it's just a nice pub.

"You'd wander past and there was always someone in there."

Police said investigations into the cause of the fire are continuing.