Mahwah School Bus Catches Fire Tuesday Morning

MAHWAH, NJ — A bus driver and a boy are all right after a school bus they were in became engulfed in flames on Chapel Road Tuesday morning, police said.

The bus was fully engulfed in flames and was completely damaged, said Chief James Batelli. The driver and boy, 11-year-old Rocco Arcese, were not injured.

The Mahwah Fire Department responded and extinguished the blaze, Batelli said. Authorities are investigating the fire.

Arcese calmly told the bus driver that they needed to get off the bus because he smelled smoke, Daily Voice reported.

“The officer told me they talked to Rocco, that he was safe, and that he was very calm, very brave,” Perone-Arcese told Daily Voice. “They said he was the calmest kid they’d ever seen in a situation like that.”

The bus is registered to the Durham Bus Company, which contracts with the Mahwah Board of Education, the chief said.

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo courtesy of Cresskill Police Department