A fire which tore through a derelict building in Christchurch's CBD, sending plumes of smoke across the city, has been extinguished.
The fire service says the blaze was put out around 8:30pm on Thursday evening.
It took several hours for firefighters to subdue the flames, which escalated quickly after the fire service was alerted to it shortly after 5pm.
Firefighters will remain at the scene overnight dampening down hot spots.
Several roads will stay closed overnight.
The cause is not yet known.
