Resident Recognized for Saving Grandma From Fire

Tim Ghanny's Tara Lane home while his 82-year-old grandmother slept upstairs.

An attempt to bring the blaze under control with a fire extinguisher was unsuccessful and the flames blocked access to their hose. Smoke was already filling the first floor when Ghanny, then 20, realized his grandmother was still inside.

"I ran through and just held my breath," Ghanny said.

He woke his grandmother, who has difficulty moving, and carried her out her bedroom window and onto the roof. From the roof, he hopped onto the deck and then lowered his grandmother to safety. The escape route was one his father thought of when they built a second floor to the house, he said.

By that time, the fire was spreading and windows were shattering.

"I had just enough time to make it out without injuring her, without injuring myself. In that sense, it couldn't have been better," Ghanny said Monday. "Material things, they can be replaced eventually. Life is a much bigger deal."

Because of his actions, Ghanny, now a 21-year-old music education senior at Montclair State University, is a recipient of the Dana Christmas Scholarship for Heroism. The $10,000 scholarship was established in honor of a student who suffered burns while helping her peers during the 2000 Seton Hall dormitory fire.

“The bravery and quick thinking displayed by Tim during what had to be a time of incredible stress was exemplary,” Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno said in a statement. “Not only did he not panic, he totally kept his composure and helped save the life of someone else. His actions truly mirror those of Dana Christmas.”

Ghanny's stepmother, Erika Pineda-Ghanny, said she was about to run into the fire when she heard him saying they made it out.

"With the roar of the fire, we thought he was shouting for help, but there was no way for us to get in the house," she said. "I ran through the yard to hopefully help him from the back, but it was so hot it was painful. ... I was about to run when I heard his voice clearer and he said he had my mother-in-law and he said that they were coming out."

She said officials determined the fire , but never determined a cause. The house was destroyed.

Ghanny said police submitted his name for the scholarship without his knowledge. Det./Sgt. Andrew Caggiano nominated Ghanny for the award.

"It was a surprise. It was a good surprise," Ghanny said. "I should thank him for taking the time to do that. He didn't have to, of course."

An insurance company has placed Ghanny, his father, Tom Ghanny, and stepmother in a rented home on Changebridge Road while a new home is built at their address on Tara Lane.

"It's coming along," Ghanny said. "We're hoping to be in there by the end of the year."

Bloggers help

Pineda-Ghanny runs a blog called Ivory Hut and she had been working with friends to start an organization to rally bloggers to support various causes when the fire started. After the fire, she became the recipient of a similar effort when fellow bloggers for her family. They used the money to buy a used car.

In August, she and co-founders launched Bloggers Without Borders, a non-profit that has raised funds for tornado victims and other bloggers facing hardships. They are planning to raise money for farmers affected by Hurricane Irene.

Ghanny said he had lived in the house on Tara Lane his whole life and his grandmother lived with them for years. He graduated in 2008 from Montville Township High School, where he played French horn and the mellophone in the marching band. His grandmother moved to the United States from Trinidad and is currently in a rehabilitation center after suffering injuries in a fall.

The scholarship is funded by Public Service Electric & Gas. The three other recipients this year are:

• Kayla Irwin of Toms River, for helping a 6-year-old family friend get to safety after a mishap on a ski lift in February 2006.
• Paul Tarashuk, of Fleminton, for following an elderly woman who drove onto a highway into oncoming traffic and maneuvering her to the side of the road to safety, and then staying with her until her family arrived, in February 2010.
• Neil Mehta, of Wayne, for performing CPR on his friend after a horrific accident caused by a deer that resulted in their car flipping numerous times in July 2010. After four brain surgeries, his friend survived.