Students, driver escape moments before NJ school bus bursts into flames on highway
A school bus carrying students was engulfed in flames along New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway on Wednesday, fire officials said.
Firefighters responded around 2:30 p.m. to mile marker 20.8 southbound on the parkway in Cape May County and found the fire raging throughout the bus, the Seaville Fire and Rescue Company said.
All 10 students and the bus driver had already escaped the burning bus by the time firefighters and EMS arrived. No injuries were reported, according to fire officials.
Seaville firefighters worked with crews from the Marmora Volunteer Fire Company and battled the fire for about two hours before extinguishing the flames.
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One student told WPVI-TV that they smelled smoke and heard a loud bang before evacuating the bus.
The child’s father, Kevin Capone, told the station that the situation was "very scary."
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"It's every parent's worst nightmare because you don't know where they're sitting on the bus, you don't know where they're at," he said.
The cause of the fire was unclear.
The Cape May County Fire Marshals office and the New Jersey State Police are investigating.