Up to 50 firefighters were needed to bring a big blaze under control at a shopping centre in Brisbane's south-west early on Saturday morning.
A large building within the Inala Civic Centre housing restaurants, a chemist and medical centre was well alight when fire crews arrived at the scene at 1:30am.
Firefighters took about four hours to bring the blaze under control.
Acting Inspector Tim Clark said their efforts were initially hampered by the intense flames.
He said the fire had caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
"A fair portion of the roof has collapsed, which has further inhibited our attack on the fire, and also affected the structural integrity of the building," he said.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Dr Michael Ho, who owns the building and medical centre, was on a plane back from a charity event in Cambodia when he heard the news.
"On arrival when I turned my phone on I got a message from one of my friends saying the building was on fire," he said.
"Everything has been destroyed."
Dr Ho said he was now focussing on finding a temporary shop where he could service the hundreds of patients who visited his medical centre on a daily basis.
"Right now I'm concerned about my patients who have nowhere to go," he said.
"Something always better happens after a bad thing.
"No-one was injured and I'm so grateful — everything else we can rebuild."
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who visited the scene as the Member for Inala, was given a briefing by emergency services and offered her sympathies to business operators.
Ms Palaszczuk said she was "shocked and saddened" by the incident in her local electorate.
"This is the heart of Inala, so of course it's a tragedy, but thankfully at this stage no reported injuries or loss of life," she said.
