Rob Scott met family members after news that an 11-year-old boy and his mother died in a house fire in Manapouri on Thursday.
"There were no words to describe the pain they were going through.
"Everyone has to support one another."
Mr Scott said he had decided not to visit the site of the house fire, out of respect for the family members.
"It has become a sacred site for the family."
Neighbours tried desperately to save the 11-year-old boy and his mother, police said.
Their bodies were found by specialist search teams combing through the ruins, after the blaze broke out in View St at 3.40am on Thursday.
Police earlier said other people remained unaccounted for, but they were now satisfied no-one else was at home at the time of the fire.
A man who also lived at the rental property was at work at the time the fire took hold, police said.
Detective Sergeant Mark McCloy, of Invercargill, said
the house was destroyed.
"We had to get a crane in to remove what was left of the roof to allow our scene team to get in."
Police were still treating the fire as unexplained and were working with fire investigators to establish the cause.
Det Sgt McCloy said police and Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) staff would continue examining the house over coming days.
Support was being offered to North Island relatives and local iwi had blessed the property, he said.
"The thoughts of everyone involved are with the victims’ whanau, who are being supported at this tragic time," he said.
Mr Scott said the fire not only affected Manapouri, but all of Southland.
"Southland itself is a tight-knit community.
"I’ve been talking to people all around and they have all felt it.
"We are the type of people who care — you could say Southland itself is in mourning.
"The community is doing what they do best and wrapping around each other for support.
"This is a very sad situation. My thoughts are out to everyone involved.
"As is the nature of a small community, the volunteers and the firefighters who were first on the scene may have been going out to people and places they knew well.
"It’s a hard time for a lot of people and my thoughts go out to the family and everyone in the wider community who have been affected by this."
What is left of the home has been covered by tarpaulins as investigations continue.
— Toni McDonald, Laine Priestley and Luisa Girao
