The Seymour businessman whose mansion in Middlebury was destroyed by fire released a statement Tuesday saying he is “incredibly blessed” by the show of support from family, friends, employees and customers.
Larry Janesky owns Connecticut Basement Systems on 60 Silvermine Road in Seymour. It is the town’s largest private employer, with 300 employees.
Janesky is well-known, as his ads are run heavily on various media, and Janesky is often featured in local press, such as when he was awarded the 2012 Small Business Association’s “Small Business Person of the Year” for Connecticut.
But Janesky has been in the news for unhappy reasons since July 3, when a massive fire engulfed his family’s $5 million home.
Photos from the fire were published all over the country. There were no injuries reported.
The fire started at about 5 p.m. July 3, according to a press release from Janesky’s company. It started small, but spread throughout the 10,700-square-foot home.
Here’s a report on the blaze from WTNH:
Fire crews from throughout the region responded to the fire.
“They tried, but it wasn’t our day. I watched for nine hours as everything down to the basement floor was lost,” Janesky said in a prepared statement.
The cause of the blaze has not been determined. Click here for a story on the investigation published by the Hartford Courant.
“Larry and his son Tanner spent July 4 scouring the rubble,” according to the release, “looking for anything that might be salvageable of their personal belongings. Sadly they found nothing. Everything had been destroyed.”
The Janeskys — Larry, his wife, Wendy and their three children — lost all their belongings in the fire: photographs, clothes.
“For me it’s all the family photos and mementos that can’t be replaced – that’s the heart-breaker. Not only was I a serial picture taker, but I saved invitations and event tickets – writing on them who attended and such,” Janesky said.
Janesky was also a compulsive writer, having filled 22 hardcover journals with thoughts, business lessons, and motivational messages. The journals were the seeds for “Think Daily,” a website Janesky authors.
The family was able to recover some 10 journals that were kept in a safe in the Janesky home. However, they were waterlogged. Members of Janesky’s extended family — sister Charlene, his niece, Amber, and his mother-in-law, Babs — have been hand-drying the pages.
“I‘m grateful to have almost half of my writing back,” he said.
Janesky said the family is also grateful for the supportive messages he’s been receiving since the fire.
“My cell phone has been buzzing and ringing every 30 seconds. I have received over 100 text messages and voice-mails from my friends, business associates, and my employees, with sincere invitations for my family to stay with them in their homes as long as we need to,” Janesky said. “I get choked up just thinking about it, and I realize how incredibly blessed I am.”
