Neighbors Rally to Support Family Displaced by Fire After Truck Smashes Home

A neighborhood came together Tuesday morning just hours after an East Hanover home caught on fire when a garbage truck crashed through its side while a mother and her children were getting ready for school.

The Daniel Drive home, which was being rented by a family of five, has been deemed uninhabitable and will be knocked down.

The truck, from N Tassielli Disposal Inc. of Rockaway, smashed through the side of the house just after 8 a.m., Lt. James Snow of the East Hanover Police Department said. It was being driven by 55-year-old Wayne Whitsitt of Tannersville, PA. As a result, a fire sparked and caused the home and truck to burst into flames.

Whitsitt was transported to Morristown Medical Center with minor injuries, Snow said. At the time of the crash, the residents, including children, were inside although none of them were injured, Snow said.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

For the past six years, Carlo Forgione and his family have owned the house. The Forgiones, also East Hanover residents, purchased the home so that Carlo's cousins could live there after graduating high school. In the meantime, the family decided to rent the house out.

The Guillame family had signed a two-year lease for the rental and had been living in the home until Tuesday's fire, Carlo Forgione said. The father is a scientist at Novartis and lived in the house with his wife and three children, all who attend school in East Hanover. The Guillames had no pets.

"[Sandra Guillame] just pulled her daughter out of the bedroom seconds before the truck hit the house," Forgione said.

Immediately, Forgione said the neighbors sprung into action and welcomed the Guillames into their own homes Tuesday morning.

"All the neighbors are pitching in. Clothes for the victims have already been offered. We're looking for alternative shelter... we know we'll have some place for the family to spend the evening," Forgione said.

One of the Guillame children was scheduled to make his Holy Communion on Saturday. The Forgione family will now be opening up their own home to relatives and friends of the Guillames following the service for a reception.

Forgione said his family was still "not settled" from the crash and watching their home be destroyed by the blaze. But he was grateful for the efforts of all the town volunteers, and noted the work of the police and fire departments and mayor.

"All the best efforts are being taken care of," he said. "We really have a great town here."