MIDDLE BASS ISLAND, Ohio -- Another Lake Erie island landmark was destroyed over the weekend.

NewsChannel5's Angie Lau reported that fire ripped through an island restaurant on Saturday afternoon, a little more than two years after the Lonz Winery collapsed.

J.F. Walleye's was once a microbrewery and restaurant that served some 500 people on busy summer nights. But for owner Bill Gross, it was something more -- it was his heart and soul.

"It's just material," he said. "We built everything ourselves. But there are things in there that my daughter made me, (that) people made, (and) pictures (of) parties."

The fire began at an end-of-the-season turkey cookout. Grease spilled onto the fire and spread quickly, and it was no match for the island's three-man fire crew.

The Put-in-Bay Fire Department had to rush to the island on two boats.

"With wind blowing (at) 30 mph, there was no chance of us at all," Chief Mark Wilhelm said. "When we got there, it was a total loss."

"There aren't very many people on the island; we don't have a big fire department, and when things burn here, they burn," said Andy Hogan, a Middle Bass Island resident. "They go, and this was a big wooden building."

The island has about 50 permanent residents, and Walleye's was the only restaurant open year-round. It is the second blow to the island since the Lonz Winery collapsed in 2000, killing one person.

"It means we don't have a place to eat," said Terry Streng, an island resident. "There's only one bar on the island ever since they knocked the winery down. It's real disappointing."

There was one minor injury. The fire chief said one person suffered minor burns to the face.

Damage is estimated at more than $700,000.