Brentwood, Westhampton Beach fires leave 3 people injured
Firefighters respond to the scene in Brentwood on Sunday afternoon. Credit: Joseph Sperber
Three people in Suffolk County were injured Sunday, including one firefighter, in a pair of house fires in Westhampton Beach and Brentwood, authorities said.
The first fire was reported at 11:35 a.m. at a two-story wood frame house on East Division Street in Westhampton Beach, according to John Neely, a spokesman for the Westhampton Beach Fire Department.
Two men, Marcus LeBron and Isaiah Ortiz, were having lunch at the nearby village marina when they saw smoke coming from the home and rushed to the scene, Neely said.
The pair helped convince the couple living in the home — who were unaware of the fire — that they needed to evacuate, he said.
The couple and their dog were then evacuated from the home as village police officers and firefighters from five departments, including Westhampton Beach, responded to the blaze, Neely said.
"It took more than an hour before most of the flames were extinguished," he said. "The remaining time on scene was taken up with overhaul, which entailed searching for and extinguishing any residual flames in the walls."
One Westhampton Beach firefighter and one occupant of the home were taken to the Peconic Bay Medical Center with undisclosed injuries that were not life-threatening, he said.
Nearly an hour later, at 12:25 p.m., Suffolk County police and members of the Brentwood Fire Department responded to a 911 call for a fire on Fairdale Drive in Brentwood, authorities said.
One person was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, according to a Suffolk police spokeswoman.
The department's Arson Squad is investigating. A call to the Brentwood Fire Department was not returned.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
