Menomonie, Wis. ? A smoky house fire near a University of Wisconsin campus killed three students who never made it out of the rooms where they were sleeping early Saturday, even though neighbors said they heard alarms.

Rescuers found two women and a man on the floors of three second-floor bedrooms near the University of Wisconsin-Stout. All three were pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said.

The smoke detectors were working, and neighbors called police when they heard the alarms, said Menomonie Police Chief Dennis Beety. Police don’t know why the three victims were unable to make it out, and it was unclear whether alcohol was a factor.

“There was a bottle of alcohol and the top was off of it,” Beety said, adding that that didn’t necessarily mean the students were drinking at the house.

The cause of the fire was still being investigated.

The university identified the victims as April C. Englund, 21, of West St. Paul, Minn.; Amanda Jean Rief, 20, of Chaska, Minn.; and Scott A. Hams, 23, of Hayward. All three appeared to have died of smoke inhalation, said Menomonie police Lt. Wendy Stelter. There were no obvious signs of foul play.

“It’s a tragedy that no campus prepares for,” Chancellor Charles Sorensen said. “We’ll grieve in this together.”