CAPE MAY COUNTY, N.J. – Middle school students in New Jersey escaped from a bus that became fully engulfed in flames and the bus driver is being hailed a hero, according to officials.
Firefighters responded Wednesday at about 2:30 p.m. to mile marker 20.8 southbound on the Garden State Parkway in Cape May County and found the fire raging throughout the bus, the Seaville Fire and Rescue Company said.
By the time first responders arrived at the scene, all 10 students and the driver had already escaped the burning bus, WPVI-TV reported.
Seaville firefighters as well as personnel from the Marmora Volunteer Fire Company battled the blaze for about two hours before extinguishing the flames.
Fire officials confirmed that no one was injured during the dramatic incident.
Students aboard the bus were from the Intermediate School and were being driven home to Sea Isle City, according to officials with the Ocean City School District.
“We want to thank everyone for their quick thinking and smart response during today’s incident. The students acted swiftly and calmly as they followed the driver’s directions to exit the bus as soon as a problem was identified. They should be commended, and we are thankful that everyone is safe,” said School Business Administrator Timothy Kelley in a statement.
Regan Capone, 13, was one of those students who detected smoke and heard a loud bang.
“We smelled it and saw it, so we got off. It was kinda all fast,” Capone noted, according to WPVI-TV.
Capone’s father, Kevin, said, “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. It’s very scary.”
Lauren Oliver’s 14-year-old son Gavin was among the students encountering the memorable event.
“That was really quite frightening, and it was within moments that they got off that it went into flames,” said the teen’s mother. “They lost their things in the fire obviously, like their backpacks and favorite sweatshirts and sports equipment.”
The Sheppard Bus driver is being hailed as a hero, according to a letter sent to parents by Intermediate School Principal Michael Mattina.
“She was a true hero and showed the utmost care for our students, making sure they were all safe after exiting the bus,” Mattina wrote. “As she said while speaking with the New Jersey State Police this afternoon, ‘These are my kids too.'”
Authorities did not speculate on the cause of the fire, which remains under investigation by the Cape May County Fire Marshals office and the New Jersey State Police, Fox News reported.
