Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE D A 7-year-old Lake Wawasee boy died of smoke inhalation in a closet fire investigators speculate he started.
Anthony Cusick, 7, was pronounced dead at Goshen General Hospital at 3:59 p.m. Saturday following the small fire in his home.
The Syracuse Fire Department was called to the home of Rich and Sherrie Cusick, 11749 Pied Piper Parkway, Enchanted Hills, at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Two neighbors found the boy unconscious in the first floor clothing closet. He was immediately taken out of the house and CPR was started.
The fire was contained in the closet where the boy had apparently been striking matches. The matches ignited a coat in the closet and the burning coat gave off toxic fumes and smoke that left the boy unconscious.
Mrs. Cusick began searching the house after her 6-year-old daughter said she smelled smoke. She went upstairs in response to an upstairs bedroom smoke alarm going off.
Unable to locate her stepson or the cause of the smoke on the second floor, Cusick searched the first floor of the house and did not find her stepson. She then went to a neighborOs house and called 911.
Neighbors returned to search for the boy, finding him in the first floor clothing closet with some toys and some struck matches.
According to Jerry Byrd, Syracuse fire chief, no water was used to fight the fire. Very little damage was done to the home outside of the closet. The firemen used fans to get the smoke out of the closet and house.
In a Sunday autopsy Goshen County coroner Jeanette Albert confirmed the cause of death to be smoke inhalation.
AnthonyOs obituary appears on page 3A.
The Cusicks lost their daughter, Kaelie, 7, after an accidental fall down a flight of stairs earlier this year.
At the scene of the fire were the Kosciusko County SheriffOs Department, Deputy State Fire Marshal, Indiana State Police, Syracuse Fire Department and Syracuse EMS.
