By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times

An unconscious driver was rescued from this vehicle on Jan. 25 in West Goshen Township.

If you end up unconscious in a burning vehicle, you’ll probably  want people like Michael Mostardi and West Goshen Police Officer Wesley Holman nearby.

Both were recognized for their heroics by the West Goshen Township Board of Supervisors at its meeting on Wednesday night, which also included the promotion of a longtime officer from lieutenant to captain, said West Goshen Police Chief Joseph Gleason.

Gleason gave this account of the rescue: On Jan. 25, about 12:56 a.m., emergency personnel were dispatched to a “fully engulfed” vehicle fire on Rt. 3 in the turning lane to Rt. 202. When Holman arrived, flames were beginning to enter the passenger compartment, which contained a single person slumped over the seat.

Holman broke out a side window, and while Mostardi attempted to extricate the unconscious driver, Holman used a fire extinguisher to reduce the flames. Mostardi, assisted by Westtown East Goshen Police Officer Andrew Lang, managed to pull the driver to safety with some difficulty since he awoke and became combative, Gleason said, adding that he was later determined to be intoxicated and is awaiting a preliminary hearing.

Gleason said that after the driver was taken to the shoulder of the roadway, police took a photograph of the vehicle that showed the driver would have perished if Holman and Mostardi, a Wayne resident who used to live in West Goshen, had not reacted so quickly. Gleason said Lang received a letter of commendation from the West Goshen department shortly after the incident.

In other police business, Gregory Stone, who began his law-enforcement career with the West Goshen Department in 1986 as a patrol officer, was promoted to captain.

Gleason said Stone’s impressive career with the department included assignment to the criminal investigation division in 1997 and promotion to sergeant in 2000. While a sergeant, Stone supervised the criminal investigation unit and served as a patrol supervisor. In 2003, Stone attended the prestigious FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., and was promoted to lieutenant in 2010, Gleason said.