Pressure on to re-test Brisbane hydrants

A Brisbane home owner has blamed a lack of water pressure for firefighters being unable to save his dwelling from a neighbouring house fire.

Both closely located Paddington houses were destroyed by the Sunday morning fire which saw eight people evacuated, including a 29-year-old man taken to hospital with burns.

Michael MacKay says firefighters told him they could not get enough water into his timber home while it was being licked by flames because of a lack of water pressure.

"My house could have been saved. I know it could have been saved," Mr MacKay told reporters.

"I was standing across the road and saying 'put the water up there', but the guy said 'we don't have enough pressure to put the water up there'."

Testing will be conducted on hydrants in the inner Brisbane suburb, says Urban Utilities.

The utility giant says all three hydrants in Warmington Street, Paddington, where the fire occurred on Sunday, met firefighting standards when tested in March 2015.

Further testing will take place and Urban Utilities says it will meet with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services over the incident.

Firefighters managed to tackle the blaze by tapping into the mains water at a local shopping centre, about 100m from where the fire engulfed one house and then jumped to Mr MacKay's neighbouring home.

A crowdfunding campaign, set-up to assist people who were renting the initial house that caught fire in Warmington Street, has exceeded expectations.

The campaign page claims the renters were not insured.

Asking for $20,000 to help offset their losses, more than $44,000 has been donated.