UPDATED: School bus catches fire en route to Mtn. Lakes

Two hearing-impared students and their driver narrowly escaped harm following a school-bus fire Tuesday morning on westbound Route 80 near the Parsippany-Montville border, according to New Jersey State Police.

The mini-bus was en route from Passaic County to Lake Drive School in Mountain Lakes, a school staff member confirmed. The driver and two students on the bus escaped without injuries, she said. Lake Drive is a regional all-age school for deaf and hard-of-hearing students that serves 12 counties.

State troopers responded to a report phoned in at about 8:30 a.m. by a passing motorist of a school bus on fire in the right median of westbound Route 80 near mile marker 47.

Troopers closed the right and center lanes of the highway as firefighters from Parsippany and Pine Brook responded to extinguish the fire.

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"The driver noticed smoke and pulled over," said Rick Sullivan, owner of the Rudco Inc. of Passaic, which owns and operates the mini-bus. "She got the kids off the bus and was going to go back to get the fire extinguisher, but then she noticed flames coming out of the grill."

Sullivan praised the driver, Elsa Marmolejos, for her quick action.

"She's been with us for 15 years and is a tough little cookie," Sullivan said. "She'll be back on the road this afternoon."

Firefighters were still on the scene at 9:20 a.m. pumping water on the still-smoldering mini-bus. All lanes were open by that time, but westbound traffic was backed up past the Route 23 interchange.

Emergency units from the state Department of Transportation also were observed at the scene.

Sullivan said he is working with investigators to determine the cause of the fire.

"It's a 2009 , so it's pretty new, an had passed all inspections," he said.

Another mini-bus, which Sullivan said was not owned by Rudco, was traveling from Lake Drive School on Sept. 23 when it overturned in Mountain Lakes. Four hearing-impaired students and the driver were transported to from that accident scene to the hospital.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.