A Tauranga man who survived the Hamilton house fire that claimed three lives has paid a heartfelt tribute to his lost flatmates.

Joseph Soutar managed to escape the blaze at a house in Collingwood Street on Saturday morning along with Raine Tarawa - also of Tauranga - and two others.

The Collingwood Street fire in Hamilton claimed three lives on Saturday.

Jake Hayes, Toni Maree Johnston and Connor Swetman all died in the incident, with Soutar posting a moving message to his housemates Hayes and Johnston via his Facebook page.

The 23-year-old wrote: 'Just the other day i saw your smiles. going to miss your loud music driveing me up the wall Jake u new i always looked out for my flat mates and your laugh still running threw my head when just the other day we was together i feel ive let use down.

'Toni u always cracked me up idk why still but you did im goin to miss our lauphing moments we had everyday after work yous wer the best flat mates ive ever had if only i could go back and take my life for yours honestly this f****n suks i give all my hart and soul out to your family & friends hope to see you guys again one day oi. rest easy my freinds loveyous.”

A Facebook page named Collingwood Fundraise has been launched to support the families affected by the fire, and donations are being sought including clothes and old cell phones.

As of this morning the page has 1806 likes, with organisers humbled by the immense response.

'The generosity of the Hamilton community is absolutely amazing,” they say. 'We can't say thank you enough.

'The donations we are receiving from everyone is beyond what we imagined. Thank you so so much everyone! God bless your kind hearts.”

A Give a Little Donation has also been set up aiming to raise $8000 for families of the victims as well as the survivors whose personal belongings were destroyed in the blaze. So far $153 has been raised.

Fairfax media reports the trio were killed when the blazed ripped through the rented house at 5am on Saturday. Four people - Bayley Reid, Raine, Joseph and Michael Heyes - escaped the fire with their lives.

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.

Yesterday's wet weather hampered efforts by the Usar team as it continued to stabilise the remains of the six-bedroom villa.

The goal was to complete a search of the house for more bodies yesterday but that is now expected to be done today.

Waikato fire area commander Roy Breeze told Fairfax media he didn't believe there were any working smoke alarms in the house at the time.

The Collingwood St address had been used as a commercial property up until two years ago and because no commercial tenants could be found, it had been used as a residential property for around 18 months.