Fire and Emergency New Zealand say they'll soon secure the burnt out Loafers Lodge for police to begin their investigation into the deadly hostel fire.
The 92-room Wellington accommodation facility caught fire in the early hours of Tuesday, prompting a frenzied evacuation.
At least six were killed in the blaze.
Since the fire was doused, six hours after it began, FENZ technical teams have been working to secure the building.
"We've had our USAR (urban search and rescue) technicians here ... they have done a lot of suring inside the building to allow us to make entry again today," FENZ spokesman Bruce Stubbs told TVNZ.
"It's structural work to ensure that when we hand over to police later this morning we can support them to do the further next step identification."
Access to the building will allow police to search for more bodies, and to gain an insight to how the fire began.
FENZ believe the fire was suspicious, while police say it is too early to tell.
Police have warned the public not to expect quick answers on a final death toll, identification of victims or fire cause.
"We are working tirelessly alongside our partners, alongside our other agencies to find the answers that we need," Acting District Commander Inspector Dion Bennett said.
"This requires an extensive scene examination and as you can see the building is large and the damage is extensive. Once inside, we will work as quickly as we can."
Insp Bennett said evidence-gathering outside of the hotel had begun.
"Yesterday a number of CIB staff spent the day at Newtown Park, speaking to evacuated residents, and we will be continuing those conversations today," he said.
"Staff have also been making a number of other general enquiries, including obtaining and reviewing CCTV footage from the area around Loafers Lodge."
Alongside the effort to access the four-storey building is an effort by six police personnel to reconcile a list of residents and people inside the building at the time of the blaze.
There are a number of people still unaccounted for, though officials have been coy on just how many.
There were around 92 residents at the 92-room hostel, but there were some visitors and some that weren't present during the fire.
Emergency services tallied 52 people as having left the building, with six bodies remaining inside.
Police are making efforts to contact the balance of the residents after the blaze.
It is challenging work: some may not want to be found, or are distrustful of authorities.
The Loafers Lodge had a mix of short-term and longer stay occupants, including shift workers from the nearby Wellington Hospital, welfare recipients and those under corrections orders.
Corrections Department spokeswoman Brittany McNamara said nine people on a community sentence order were living at the hostel, with two still unaccounted for.
The inferno has raised other questions, including the suitability of the 1970s-built building to house vulnerable tenants.
Survivors have told local media there was a second fire, earlier in the night, that may have led to the fire alarms being switched off.
There are also reports the main entrance was broken.
The disaster is New Zealand's deadliest building fire since 1995, when a deliberately-lit fire inside the New Empire Hotel in Hamilton killed six people including one who jumped from the building.
Should officials confirm two more deaths, it will be the country's worst since 1947 when 41 people died in the Ballantynes department store in Christchurch.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese offered Australian assistance in the recovery effort, though it is not yet clear whether that will be taken up by Kiwi officials.
Australia experienced a similar tragedy in Childers, Queensland, where 15 people - most of whom were foreign travellers - died in the burning of the Palace Backpackers Hostel in 2000.
© AAP 2023