Students saved from accident

SPARTA - There were some frightening moments after a dump truck smashed into a school bus here last week. Thanks to some fast action by two witnesses, the bus driver, a school staff member and 16 female students from Hopatcong High School escaped without major injuries. John Grant and Marine Sgt. Nicholas Gendron extinguished an engine fire on the bus and helped evacuate the students, bus driver and teacher. The accident occured about 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, at the intersection of Sparta Avenue and Lafayette Road. Detective/Sgt. Ronald Casteel of the Sparta Police Department said a dump truck, driven by Donald Batson, ran a red light and struck the school bus. Both vehicles veered over an embankment and stopped within feet of the Sparta United Methodist Church. At the time of the accident the Hopatcong students were in route to Sussex Technical School to attend a community service conference.