More than 100 friends and family members gathered outside the charred remains of a Collingwood St address today to farewell the three victims of the fire that ripped through the property early Saturday morning.
The seven-bedroom character home caught fire after a party around 5am Saturday morning, killing three of the occupants believed to be Toni Maree Johnston, 25, Jake Hayes, 19, and Connor Swetman, 17.
Kale Hoggart, Swetman's cousin, was being comforted by his girlfriend and several of Connor's friends as they stood behind the police cordon waiting for the bodies to be removed.
"I'm really gutted. I can't handle it. He was taken way too early, he was only 17. I'll stay here as long as it takes. I have to. His mum's run away. She just doesn't know what to do. She's just gutted," he said.
Ellie Buck, 14, was friends with Connor and described him as a loving brother to his siblings.
"Connor, he was like my brother. I was very close with Connor. He always looked after us, and he was the best brother. Hearing that he died, I just don't believe it. Now their family is never going to be the same. His mum is so lovely, He loved her so much, and he loved his little sister and brother. They're going to be heartbroken. They were going to move to Australia. This is absolutely heartbreaking," Buck said.
"He was such a beautiful boy. He didn't deserve this to happen. We're all here. We've got to be here for our brother, we've got to be strong for our brother. He had everyone's back, all day, every day."
Waikato Police communications manager Andrew McAlley said now the bodies had been removed, the formal clearing and search of the property can begin.
"Currently we are in the extraction phase, so we have secured the dwelling to the point where paths have been created so we can get the bodies out. Those bodies will be removed and taken to Auckland for post mortem. Once that's completed we've got a view of commencing further strengthening of the house and that will allow the clearing of the house. From there, subject to it being safe, we would like to look at examination, so there are a number of things at play. Today we have conducted the extraction, the identification process will be quite prolonged. And the other thing that will be quite prolonged will be finding out what caused the fire. That's all going to take a fair amount of time."
As the bodies were removed from the property at about 4.30pm, distraught family members gathered around the hearses to say their goodbyes. Friends also performed a haka.
McAlley said struts had been put in, but more will need to be done to get the building up to strength before the search can take place.
"The key thing for us is we know there are more people that are present at the house during the party that we haven't spoken to, so we urge anyone who was at the property during the party or shortly afterwards, to contact us. There are obviously a lot of distressed and concerned people," he said.
"The other important thing is that people have the ability to film on their phones so there may have been people that were filming at the party or may have filmed the fire, that again could also help us eliminate people from our list that we are seeking and trying to verify. If you have any footage please make contact with the police."
Hamilton Police can be contacted on 07 858 6200.