When fire first broke out at Wellington’s Loafers Lodge this week, nobody could imagine the horror that would unfold.
Fire crews were called to the scene in Newtown at 12.25am on Tuesday where they were faced with what Wellington Fire and Emergency district manager Nick Pyatt said was their worst nightmare.
At its peak, more than 80 firefighters from 29 crews attended.
They were confronted with the most challenging of scenes - fighting the flames while also trying to get people out and putting their own lives at risk.
Survivors were taken to Newtown Park Stadium and by about 7am authorities confirmed there were multiple fatalities.
Later that morning police confirmed their initial assessment was that the number of fatalities was fewer than 10.
At about 11am, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins arrived at the scene to be briefed by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and police.
Hipkins said the city had not seen an event of this scale in quite some time.
During the day firefighters could be seen hosing down hotspots from above the building while the buzz of a drone filled the air.
Pyatt said six crews remained on-site including an Urban Search and Rescue Squad made up of technicians and drone operators.
By early Tuesday afternoon, Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau had announced a mayoral relief for those affected.
The council pledged $50,000.
After 4pm on Tuesday, Chief Coroner Judge Anna Tutton was among several officials who addressed media at the scene.
Legally, the bodies of the victims of the tragedy were in the custody of the Coroner, she said.
Once recovery of the bodies of the victims was possible, they will be treated with respect, she promised the loved ones of those who had died.
Police were still treating the fire as unexplained on Tuesday evening.
On Wednesday morning, Chris, a survivor of the fire, said it was “very emotional” returning to the scene of the blaze, knowing his “bros are still in there”.
Chris said he wanted to return to the Adelaide Rd cordon to put some flowers down for “my bros who passed away”.
It was also confirmed FENZ would hand over the scene to police at some point during the day.
By Wednesday afternoon police said they were treating the fire as suspicious.
The Prime Minister said a review of building regulations for higher-density accommodation, such as hostels, would be a likely outcome of the fire.
Wellington’s mayor confirmed the council would investigate how many other buildings were similar to Loafers Lodge.
At 3.30pm, Loafers Lodge director Gregory Mein addressed media and said the building was issued with a current Building Warrant of Fitness in March.
By Wednesday evening police had entered the building.
They announced they were treating the fire as arson and a homicide investigation was under way.
On Thursday morning, FENZ held a press conference to respond to questions about whether they had the right equipment available to respond to the fire.
Chief Executive Kerry Gregory said they did.
Just two days before the fire the Professional Firefighters’ Union said Wellington had been hit by “58 hours of chaos” after multiple trucks were out of action.
That afternoon emergency services formed a guard of honour along a footpath near the hostel as they awaited the first body to be recovered from the scene.
Police were able to recover two of the fire victims that day.
By 9.30pm, police confirmed they had arrested a man in relation to the fire and had charged him with two counts of arson.
On Friday afternoon a 48-year-old man appeared in court.
Wearing a black hoodie and making hand gestures and wavy movements with his arms, the man stomped back and forth in the dock and told the court he didn’t commit the arson.
The man was granted interim name suppression and is due to appear in court again on June 19.
Police confirmed later that day they had recovered two more bodies from the scene.
Police recovered a fifth body on Saturday. They have located 99 people with fewer than 10 unaccounted for.
Anyone who has made a report to police of a missing loved one, who has since made contact with them, can get in touch via 105 and quote Operation Rose.
Alternatively, people can go to https://www.police.govt.nz/use-105 using “update report”.