Lamp may have started fatal fire

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, May 24, 2007

By Lisa Vernon-Sparks

Journal Staff Writer

COVENTRY — As state authorities yesterday morning searched through the charred remains of a bedroom fire at 14 Meredith Drive, family and friends of Mark Holihen, who died in the blaze, huddled close by, remembering the man who was an avid fast-pitch softball player.

John Holihen, whose son Mark died in a fire Tuesday at the family home on Meredith Drive in Coventry, comforts friend Marilyn Ferrucci yesterday. The state fire marshal’s office has initially ruled the fire accidental.

The Providence Journal / Kathy Borchers Kathy Borchers

Family members say Holihen, 50, participated in softball league play and at one time traveled around the country with the King and His Court, a national four-man softball team that began in 1946. He played in local leagues in Coventry during the 1980s as well, and received numerous trophies and plaques that still hang in the family’s basement.

“He used to be able to pitch a softball at 77 miles per hour. He was a good guy and had a lot of friends,” said his brother Christopher Holihen. “He is very well known around town.”

“He loved baseball and softball. He was a Red Sox fan,” his father, John Holihen, said.

The state fire marshal’s office has initially ruled the Tuesday evening fire accidental. It may have been started by a lamp that fell over, Anthony District Fire Chief Robert Warren said yesterday. Anything that burned, such as plastic on a picture, could have caused the terrific amount of smoke and flames that engulfed the bedroom, he added.

The fire marshal’s office did not return calls yesterday seeking additional comment.

Holihen, a graduate of Coventry High School, was a landscaper and an occasional bartender at a local bar. He lived with his parents, John and Phyllis Holihen. They said he was in bed when the fire began shortly before 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The couple were in the living room when they smelled smoke and initially thought it was someone cooking outside, but quickly realized it was coming from inside their ranch-style house. When they opened the door to their son’s bedroom, they were hit with thick smoke that billowed out into the rest of the house.

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A lamp getting knocked over is a typical type of smoldering fire the SmokeShutoff power strip is designed to prevent or stop.