Volunteer Andrew Kolesar is N.Y. Firefighter of the Year for 2011 rescue in Haverstraw

WEST HAVERSTRAW — Volunteer firefighter Andrew Kolesar was honored Wednesday as the state Firefighter of the Year for saving the life of fellow volunteer Kenneth Patterson.

Kolesar, 39, pulled Patterson out of a Haverstraw village building after Patterson had collapsed when his air pack ran out Jan. 14, 2011.

Patterson, a West Haverstraw Fire Department captain and former chief, had been searching the second floor of 222 Westside Ave., a building with illegally converted apartments.

Kolesar, using a thermal imaging camera, located Patterson, grabbed his air-pack straps, dragged him out of the room and slid with him down the stairs. Patterson was treated for high carbon monoxide levels at the hospital.

“I still think I was in the right place at the right time and it went well,” Kolesar said. “I never look at it as though I did something anybody else wouldn’t have done in the same position.”

Kolesar was honored at the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York’s annual convention in Liverpool, N.Y.

“I’m humbled,” Kolesar said.