HAMPTON -- Hampton fire investigators were looking Friday for the cause of Thursday night's deadly blaze at an apartment complex near Magruder Boulevard, which runs near Langley Air Force Base.

The fire destroyed two three-story buildings -- with a total of 12 apartments -- at Colonial Village at Tradewinds. Three bodies were found Friday. All the bodies came from a second-story unit, but two bodies were found on the first floor and one on the second floor. During the fire, the second floor collapsed in the living room and bedroom areas.

"We just removed the bodies, but we haven't gone in and investigated," Fire Marshal Anne-Marie Loughran said Friday afternoon.

Eight people had been hospitalized and are expected to live. Several adults and children leaped from second- and third-story balconies to escape the fire, and one suffered a broken ankle, Loughran said.

Colonial Village at Tradewinds is a 284-apartment complex owned by Colonial Properties Trust, a real estate investment trust in Birmingham, Ala., said Jim Spahn, a company spokesman.

Spahn wouldn't say whether all the apartments had functioning smoke alarms, fire extinguishers or other safety equipment. He said Colonial Properties had turned all relevant building-safety information over to fire investigators.

"We need to let the investigation take its course," Spahn said.

Loughran said the apartments were built in 1984, perhaps a decade before building codes required multi-unit buildings to have sprinkler systems. There were no sprinklers in the apartments, and neighbors said they didn't hear smoke alarms. Instead, they heard honking car horns and shouting voices, trying to alert residents to the fire.

"How did they expect anyone to get out?" asked Marilynn Pitts, a third-floor resident. Pitts said there were no fire extinguishers in the apartments.

Rayfield Taylor, a second-floor resident, said he didn't hear his smoke detector go off during the fire.

"To my knowledge, it was working fine," he said, adding that he had changed the battery only a few months ago.

"Nobody's smoke detectors went off," he said.

Loughran said that rental units weren't required to have extinguishers but that they were supposed to have detectors. Fire investigators are trying to learn whether those were working.

Residents are responsible for ensuring the detectors are in working order, Loughran said.

"In other words, if they break, they're supposed to let the rental people know, and then they can fix them," she said.

The city Fire Division doesn't inspect apartment complexes. Codes Compliance inspects the exterior of buildings but not the interior unless there's a complaint, City Manager Jesse Wallace said.

Director of Codes Compliance Steve Shapiro couldn't be reached Friday, but city spokeswoman Rebecca Bolte said Shapiro was looking into all code-related issues at the complex, including any complaints.