Toledo Beach Marina Yacht Yard in Lake Erie Wrecked by Fire

Around two hundred boats were destroyed as the enclosed dry dock of Toledo Beach Marina in La Salle, Michigan and by Lake Erie went ablaze just before 07:00 morning time of Friday four December 2020. Monroe County Emergency Management Division responded to the blaze, which was rated at sever Box 5 and destroyed around two hundred boats and the entire building. The fire was reported controlled by about noon, but at some point the smoke was so thick that the flashing emergency lights of first responders could barely be seen. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army have also been called in to help make sure fire crews are being monitored for exhaustion or fatigue. Fire crews are investigating the cause of the fire.

This fire is the second at Toledo Beach Marina following one on an evening of August 1975, which damage an aluminium storage building and a ten meter boat.

Toledo Beach Marina opened in 1962 as Virgil Gladieux a well known Toledo food concessionaire and former LaSalle resident, bought the acreage in 1961, dredged the park and built a large marina on the lakefront property.  The Gladieux family owned the business up to 2007 selling it to Atlanta, Ga. marina operator for an undisclosed price. Tim Gladieux, Virgil’s son, continued to operate Toledo Beach Yacht Sales as a tenant, and his firm also retained control of 300 acres of waterfront property adjacent to the north of the nearby North Cape Yacht Club and farm property west of the marina.