Warwick volunteer firefighter Kevin Colomba was awarded the prestigious Liberty Medal on Dec. 19, 2023, for saving three lives in a head-on car crash.
The highest civilian award bestowed by the state Senate, the Liberty Medal honors individuals for exceptionally heroic and humanitarian acts on behalf of fellow New Yorkers.
“He didn’t hesitate, he didn’t think of himself, and three of our neighbors are still with us and their families this holiday season,” state Sen. James Skoufis said before presenting the medal to Mr. Colomba at the Warwick Fire Department.
Mr. Colomba attributed the lifesaving act to his training as a firefighter and police officer, plus a pocketknife that he had carried for seven years but never used until that day.
“I see an incident, I see a problem, and I deal with that,” he said after receiving the award. “For those who are in fire, police, and emergency services, that is part of our gift.”
In the early morning of Oct. 30, 2023, Mr. Colomba got off his midnight shift as a Port Authority police officer at George Washington Bridge and headed home via Route 17A.
While passing through Tuxedo, he came upon a head-on car collision and immediately stopped to extract one trapped driver from the car and into the care of a good Samaritan.
Then he ran to the second car, which had flames shooting up from the engine compartment, and he extracted two people before emergency services arrived on the scene.
“It was a head-on, so it was impossible to open any car doors,” Mr. Colomba told The Epoch Times. “I took the window down, then I cut the airbag away and pulled a person out, but she was still stuck in the seatbelt, so I cut the seatbelt—that is pretty much it.”
The only tool he had on him was a multi-function pocketknife, one that comes with a window punch, which was the only reason he was able to take down the windows, he said.
“And I thank God that my sergeant talked to me for two minutes before I left work—he almost never stopped me before I headed home—[otherwise], it could have been me in the head-on crash, or I would have passed that area before the accident happened,” he said.
“I always say everything happens for a reason; even though we don’t understand it at the time, there is always a reason.”
Warwick Fire Chief Michael Contaxis, who said he has watched Mr. Colomba grow since he joined the all-volunteer fire department in 2006, commended him for his selfless act.
“We are very proud of you, Kevin, of all your accomplishments, and I hope you continue to succeed and go up the ladder of success doing what you love,” Mr. Contaxis said at the award ceremony.
“Acts of courage can happen in a millisecond, and for you to recognize the imminent danger before you and act really speaks of the training that you had as a Warwick firefighter,” Warwick Village Mayor Mike Newhard said. “We are so pleased that you are being honored today.”
“He exemplifies what being a police officer and a fireman is,” Port Authority George Washington Bridge Command’s commanding officer, Keith Rubel, told The Epoch Times. “Most people in our profession don’t look for the attention; they do it simply because it is in them.”
“I don’t say I am a hero; what I do is what I love doing,” Mr. Colomba told The Epoch Times.
