A Brisbane restaurant has been partially blown apart after dozens of cans of pest repellent caused an explosion.

The owners of the business on Mains road, Sunnybank, had reportedly planted 24 repellent bombs inside the store, which then caused a vapour explosion.

When firefighters arrived about 10pm on Thursday night, the front of the store had partially buckled and the rear door had been blown out.

“They’re extremely flammable and may present an explosion hazard,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services officer Michael Yates told ABC radio on Friday.

“If you’re going to set off 24, this is a large volume and in a confined space it obviously found an ignition source and caused a vapour explosion.”

Pest bomb explosions were extremely rare, Yates said.

Detectives had spoken to the owners of the business but ruled there was no cause to investigate further, a police spokesman said.