Three die in Hamilton house fire

Fatal blaze: Three bodies removed:

All three bodies have been removed from the charred remains of the Collingwood St, Hamilton villa that erupted in flames early Saturday morning.

There were emotional scenes as the first of the bodies was removed by hearse about 2.30pm today. Silence enveloped the 100-plus crowd as each of the bodies were taken away and family surrounded the car and peered into the back to have a few minutes to pay their respects. The last of the bodies was driven away about 5pm.

Nineteen-year-old Jake Hayes, Connor Swetman, 17, and Toni Maree Johnston, 25, were killed when the blazed ripped through the rented house at 5am on Saturday. The house was so badly damaged that specialist Urban Search and Rescue (Usar) teams were brought in to reach their bodies. It was also feared there were more bodies inside.

As the bagpipes began to play, the 100-plus crowd looking on from nearby went quiet as the first hearse was driven out of the driveway of the Collingwood St house before stopping in front of awaiting family about 2.30pm.

The relatives stood and hugged and looked into the back of the vehicle for a few minutes before it was driven away.

Detective Senior Sergeant Graham Pitkethley, of the Waikato police, said the removal of the bodies was "another step for the family in the grieving process".

He said attention woudl turn to the two-storey house which still needed to be stabilised before it was safe for forensic experts to complete their examinations.

Pitkethley wanted people who were at the property on the night of the party or at the time of the fire to contact police.

He said police were keen to speak to anyone who had video recordings of a Friday night party at the address or who had footage of the fire the next morning.

Fire officers, Urban Search and Rescue Teams, and a specialist Police Disaster Victim Identification Unit have been working at the scene of the fire throughout the weekend.

Earlier Pitkethley said it was still unclear if there were more bodies inside.

When asked to comment about reports of a fight at the house that night, Pitkethley said "there was a party at the house and part of the investigation would be looking at any allegations into activity that took place".

'I RAN FOR MY LIFE'

Four people - Bayley Reid, Raine Tarawa, Joseph Soutar and Michael Heyes - escaped the fire with their lives.

Reid said he was asleep in the front room of the house when he was woken by screams early on Saturday.

Hayes and Swetman were right behind him. "I put my clothes on and i just smashed the window, and they were behind me, and that was it I haven't see them since then. They were right there."

Reid said he smashed the window by punching it before jumping to the ground from the top storey of the two-storey house.

"I jumped through the window and ran down the deck and then flames were growing even more as I was running. I ran for my life," he said.

"Before I smashed the window, we opened the door to go into the hallway to come out he front door and all I heard was a big roar and smoke just came straight at me, straight down my lungs. I just turned around and ran. I was gone, I wanted to get out of there.

"I don't know what I was doing but I put my clothes on before I jumped out." Reid said he was good friends with Swetman and Hayes but didn't know the third victim, Johnston. The group had got together to have a few drinks on Friday night, before the tragedy.

Reid arrived at the scene this morning supported by family and friends. He was still wearing the Converse shoes - dotted with blood - he put on when he fled from Saturday morning's blaze. McAlley urged anyone who attended the party at the house on Friday night to get in touch with police as there were still people they knew had attended, but were yet to contact them.

"So we've got three bodies. We haven't cleared the house. We do know for sure that we have not accounted for everyone that was at the dwelling for the party. So we're not drawing any conclusions from that. Our priority is to locate and get everybody accounted for."

FRIENDS IN SHOCK

Hamilton engineer Koni O'Reilly, 19, was in shock yesterday, trying to come to terms with the loss of his friends. He had been to the house, briefly, about 3am, just hours before the blaze.

He has been told subsequently that there were up to eight people in the house at the time of the fire.

O'Reilly said he had just made plans for New Year in Australia with Swetman, who was due to move to the Gold Coast.

Swetman's family said police told them he was one of the missing.

O'Reilly was a life-long mate of Hayes. The two, in recent years, united by two common interests: cars and girls.

Johnston worked as a trainee manager at fashion designer Annah Stretton's Hamilton store.

Tony Hope, the company's general manager, said she'd worked for them for about six months and was set to move to Auckland. He had just given her a glowing reference to a potential employer.

"She wanted to move to Auckland, change her life, and we had some work up there for her because she was a very capable, young, driven woman and she showed a lot of promise."

He and the rest of the staff were yesterday in shock after her family had told him she was one of the missing in the blaze..

"She was one of our first young management trainees ... it's such a busy store, with lots of responsibility. Her manager was back in the store today and of course is in shock. We're all a little numb. Our thoughts are with her family. This is an absolute tragedy."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/63246027/Fatal-blaze-Three-bodies-removed