DAVID WALKER/STUFF

Firefighter and earthquake hero Mark Whittaker died suddenly on Tuesday.

A "hell of a firefighter" honoured for tunnelling into the collapsed and flaming CTV building and freeing trapped students has died.

Firefighters past and present paid tribute to senior firefighter Mark David Whittaker, 45, who unexpectedly died at home on Tuesday. It is believed he suffered a heart attack.

The North Canterbury man served with the Christchurch Metro brigade after several years of service in England.

Whittaker moved to New Zealand with his young family 17 years ago. He left Herne Bay, in South East England, at the age of 17 to join the Grenadier Guards, and after five years of duty and extensive travelling in places like Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Kenya, he joined the Oxfordshire Fire Service before moving across the world.

Colleagues remembered Whittaker, known as Rogd and Geezer, as a "brilliant guy" who "made such a big impression". In a post on Facebook, he was celebrated as "one of the good guys".

READ MORE: Awards recognition for quake rescuers who risked their lives

"Always laugh[ing] and so friendly ... a good man taken too early," one said.

"He [was] such a nice person! Always so thankful for everything we did for him at work," another said.

Whittaker's heroism in the wake of the 2011 earthquake was recognised with a New Zealand bravery award in 2014.

He was one of four firefighters in tunnelling teams who rescued a group of students trapped in the collapsed CTV building. Battling dense smoke and cramped conditions, Whittaker and the others tunnelled into the fourth floor of the building, which had been compressed into a space no higher than 60 centimetres.

The four worked in teams, passing debris backwards along their bodies because there was no space to turn around. In total, 115 people died in the building during the magnitude-6.3 tremor.

Eventually the team of tunnellers, including Whittaker, found a small group of students trapped under a beam. Two bodies had to be removed before they could rescue one student who was trapped by her ankle and another who was trapped by his head.

A third student could not be freed until a civilian doctor performed an amputation through an access hole from above.

Christchurch Metro assistant area commander Greg Crawford said Whittaker was a great asset and would be "sorely missed". "Our thoughts are with his family at this time."

The Canterbury Basketball Community also mourned the loss of a man "extremely passionate about basketball" and an "outstanding father, husband, friend, son" in a Facebook post. He was heavily involved in both the North Canterbury and the Waitaha representative programmes, and his wife, Caroline Whittaker, worked as the operations manager at North Canterbury Basketball Association.

Whittaker is survived by his wife and three children, Charlotte, Mason and Lauren.

A funeral will be held in the Rangiora Chapel, Wai-mana, on Thursday, with a private cremation to follow. Fire and Emergency New Zealand staff are invited to wear uniform and medals to the service.

 - Stuff