Submitted by: Todd Nowicki

Bayzk-Blasko

THREE -YEAR OLD DIES IN MOBILE HOME FIRE

(South Bend Tribune 9/16/1982)
Three-year-old Brent Bayzk died as a fire drove his mother and another child from his family’s mobile home on South Bend’s far west side about 11 p.m. Wednesday.

His mother, Mrs. Susan Bazyk, who had carried a neighbor’s infant to safety, was burned on her hands as she attempted to re-enter the burning trailer to try to rescue her son from a rear bedroom, according to Arson Inspectors Steve Wieger and John Nelson. The Bazyk home is at Lot 131 of the Countryside Village at Mayflower and Sample.

The victim’s mother was babysitting for the six-month old Joseph Fuchs, a neighbor’s child, at the time of the fire.

The Fuchs infant was listed in fair condition in the Pediatrics Unit at Memorial Hospital with first and second degree burns on his left forearm, forehead and left cheek.

Mrs. Bazyk suffered burns on her hands and her hair was singed, but she refused emergency medical treatment at the scene, according to paramedics.

The three-year old died from smoke inhalation. Dr. Louis Grwinski, county coroner, said that about 10 per cent of the boy’s body was burned, but he apparently inhaled a considerable amount of smoke.

The inspectors blamed the fire on an overheated cord from a radio that apparently ignited the carpeting, sofa, paneling and curtains while Mrs. Bazyk slept on the couch. The inspectors said the cord from the radio was smashed underneath the leg on the couch.

Damage to the building and contents was estimated at $14,000, according to the inspectors.
Brent M. Bazyk:

(South Bend Tribune 9/16/1982)
Brent M. Bazyk, 3, of 1001 Mayflower Road, died at 12:35 a.m. today in a fire in his home. He was born Sept. 4, 1979, in South Bend. He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Randy J. Bazyk; his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Blasko Jr.; and paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Bazyk, all of South Bend. Services will be conducted at 9 a.m. Saturday at St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church, with Rev. Eugene J. Kazmierczak, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery. Friends may call from 2 to 9 p.m. Friday in St. Joseph Funeral Home, where a parish wake service will be conducted at 7:30 p.m. Friday.