A firefighter battling the central Christchurch blaze has been taken to hospital.

Fire and Emergency crews were called to the large fire on Colombo St just before 4.30am today.

The midday update on the FENZ Canterbury Facebook page said, “One of our firefighters has been transported to hospital for observation and we are providing them with support.”

Firefighters are continuing their work to extinguish the blaze, with heavy machinery being used alongside fire crews to access the deep-seated fire in a rubbish pile, the update said.

Meanwhile, the stay inside notice has been lifted, with phones in the area receiving the alerts.

A statement to the Fire Alert website said, “The smoke drift across the Sydenham, Addington and Spreydon area has now sufficiently dissipated that we have lifted the stay inside warning.

“However, Fire and Emergency crews will still be working to fully extinguish the fire throughout the day and there will continue to be some smoke in the area.”

“Continue to take precautions to avoid the smoke where possible, including keeping windows and doors closed,” the statement said.

The road remains closed around the building on Cass St.