Westhampton Beach Senior and Alum Help Couple Escape Fire

It was just an ordinary Sunday morning for Westhampton Beach High School senior Isaiah Ortiz and his friend Marcus LeBrun, who graduated from the school in 2023.

The two friends were having breakfast at a nearby village marina on October 1 when they noticed black smoke. It was coming from a home on East Division Street. According to John Neely, a Westhampton Beach Fire Department spokesman, they received a call at around 11:35 a.m. It was from the boys.

After making the call, the two of them drove to the home to see if there was any way they could help.

“I ran to the back of the house and Marcus went to the front door,” says Ortiz. “At the back of the house, the entire sunroom was filled with smoke.”

Inside the home were a couple and their dog. “They had no idea the house was on fire,” Ortiz says. He and LeBrun convinced them that they needed to evacuate the house. Ortiz believes it was simply a case of being at the right place at the right time. Emergency responders took over from there, and they had their work cut out for them.

“It took more than an hour before most of the flames were extinguished,” Neely explains. “The remaining time on scene was taken up with overhaul, which entailed searching for and extinguishing any residual flames in the walls.” A firefighter and one person living in the home were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Westhampton Beach High School recognized their heroics. “We are very proud of Isaiah and Marcus,” said Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Probst.

Ortiz currently plays for Westhampton Beach’s basketball team. He hopes to become a math teacher in the future and will be attending Suffolk County Community College in the fall.