Fire guts senior health official’s home

Sep 01, 2017 News

A late morning fire of unknown origin yesterday gutted the Congress Drive, South Ruimveldt

The gutted structure.

Park home of the Fogenays.
The building is occupied by 40-year-old Glendon Fogenay, who is the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, his 38-year-old wife, Keane Glasgow-Fogenay, who is a teacher, their three children, and Mr. Fogenay’s 68-year-old mother, Nadecia Tappin. The family have been living there since 2004.
Ms Tappin was the only person at home when the fire ravaged the structure. She explained that she was downstairs doing her chores when, around 11:30hrs she heard a clapping sound, and when she rushed upstairs, she saw the front of the building on fire. The woman said she “ran back down the stairs and screamed, “Fire!!! Fire!!! “
When the neighbours heard her cries they rushed to her assistance and called the fire service.
Sandra Lam, a neighbour of the victims, recounted that she was in her house when she heard her neighbour’s screams and rushed outside to see that the whole roof was in flames.
Mr. Fogenay told reporters that he was not there at the time and had just rushed to the scene. He said his wife did the same.
The man reflected that the house was “33 years of hard work” for his mother and “23 years of hard work” between him and his wife. He also said that the house is insured.
Fire Chief Marlon Gentle when told that nothing was plugged in except a few necessities such as the fridge and television, said that people still needed to be careful. He also said that when his officers went into the building after the fire was extinguished they saw burnt appliances still plugged in.
The building’s contents were completely burnt leaving only the columns and half of the roof.
Investigations are continuing.