An early morning blaze Wednesday destroyed a landmark restaurant in the city of Emily.
The Bungalow Taphouse, which was originally built in 1903, burned down to mostly ashes.
The Emily Fire Department was called at 2:45 a.m. to the bar and grill restaurant located among the towering pines on Park Avenue, just off Highway 6. When firefighters arrived flames were coming out of the structure and the roof was beginning to cave in, Emily Fire Chief Kenny Roden said.
Roden said the fire started in the back dining room area and took over most of the restaurant. Firefighters had to fight the flames and smoke from the exterior. Around 40 firefighters from Emily, Crooked Lake, Fifty Lakes, Crosslake and Ideal were on scene extinguishing the fire.
The fire chief said everything is gone, besides a small portion of the frame of the building's newer part of the restaurant.
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Roden said the restaurant closed around 9-9:30 p.m. Tuesday and everything was fine.
Roden said the cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated by the State Fire Marshal's Office.
Owner Chris Spindler, in a telephone interview, said he is in "utter disbelief" about the fire. Spindler, who was at home sleeping when he received calls about the fire, said he ran to the Bungalow as soon as her heard. Spindler said it is sad to see it gone. He said his customers compliment him daily on how beautiful the building looks.
Spindler, who purchased the restaurant in 2014, said he has been busy working on remodeling the restaurant and he almost finished the bathrooms and the deck and now it is all gone. He said he put new beer lines into the bar, fixed the floors in the cooler and has worked on maintaining the structure to make it look nice.
"We have our busiest two weeks coming up and now it's gone," Spindler said referring to the Fourth of July and Emily Days. "We held on all winter long and those are our biggest selling days."
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 218-855-5851. Follow me at www.twitter.com/jennewsgirl on Twitter.
