3 confirmed dead in apartment fire

HAMPTON, Va - Fire officials continue to investigate a late night fire at a Hampton apartment building. Fire officials tell WAVY.com two bodies, from the same apartment, have been recovered. One was found on the second floor, the other was found on the first floor. A third body was also found.

Firefighters are still at the scene looking for other possible victims.

No word yet on the identity of the bodies that were found.

The fire started around 10 p.m. Thursday night at the Tradewinds Apartments near Langley Air Force Base. When crews arrived, they found heavy flames and smoke pouring from the building.

The flames were so intense, the roof and walls of an upper floor collapsed.

Looking at the building, scarred by flames, it was hard for many to pull their eyes away from the damage. But for those who escaped the fire, it was tougher to think of anything else, "My mind is just gone because of what I've seen, it was just terrible," one neighbor said.

One resident and her two kids escaped the flames by jumping from a second story window, and into the arms of a bystander, a man named Terry Dargan.

"I just told her to drop her kids and I'll catch them. She dropped her little baby first and I caught the baby. Then, her daughter and I caught her and then I told her to jump," Dargan said.

The woman jumped to safety into the stranger's arms. Some called Dargan a hero -- a title he denies, "I'm no hero," he said, "I'm just thankful I was there."

Dargan's one request was that someone do the same for him, should his family need a hero too.

Because the structure was unsafe and the fire happened at night, crews were waiting until daylight to get a better assessment of where and how the fire started.

Sources tell WAVY.com the building was built in 1984, before the sprinkler law went into effect, so there were no working sprinklers at the time of the fire.

One fire spokesman said 12 units were damaged, displacing 26 people. The American Red Cross was in the process of helping those families.

A total of nine people were injured in the blaze.

Look for the latest on this developing story on WAVY.com and WAVY News 10.

Related Link: Fire Safety from the Virginia Dept. of Fire Programs