About 100 Firefighters Battle Blaze At Waukegan Boat Warehouse

WAUKEGAN, IL — About 100 firefighters from three counties battled an blaze Wednesday night at a boat storage facility at the Waukegan lakefront, authorities said.

No one was injured, but the estimated damage to the boats could could be up to several million dollars.

“The crews did an exceptional job in very extreme conditions," Fire Marshal Todd Zupec said.

Around 8 p.m., an automated fire alarm went off at the Bay Marine Chicago Yachting Center facility at 3 E. Madison Street, according to Waukegan fire officials. There was no one inside at the time.

The first fire crews to arrive reported visible flames inside the warehouse, which housed more than 60 large boats. Firefighters faced challenges getting to the source of the fire inside the large warehouse, as well as dealing with frigid temperatures.

Fire officials upgraded to a 4-alarm response, and crews came in to assist from across Lake, McHenry and Kenosha counties, according to the Waukegan Fire Department.

About 100 firefighters responded to the scene during the night and early morning hours, finally bringing the blaze under control around 2:30 a.m., fire officials said.

Firefighters were still at the scene Thursday morning putting out hot spots.

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The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, fire officials said.

The 50,000-square-foot yacht sales, service and storage facility was built in 2017, according to the website of the building's owner.

"The nature of the boat storage is difficult to navigate in smoke and fire conditions," Zupec said in a statement Thursday morning. "The multiple alarms allowed Command to rotate crews to keep them safe during a difficult fire."