 Portage Brewing, a popular brewery in Walker, was completely destroyed by a fire over the weekend. Our own Cheryl Moore has details on the blaze and tells us what's next according to the owners. We have our Portage tap handle and no more Portage here. Many in Walker say they woke up Sunday morning to multiple text messages and calls about a local spot Portage Brewing that was no more. The Walker Fire Department was first called to the scene just after 6 30 in the morning. They were able to put out the fire pretty quickly. No one was injured in the fire, but still the damage to the structure was done. The building is one of the oldest buildings in Walker and used to be a hospital. Portage Brewing moved in two and a half years ago. They met and shook hands with everybody and just last week we have an events calendar at the chamber and we approved 19 events that Portage is going to have directly at that building over the next six weeks. Officials spent most of Monday assessing the damage and trying to figure out what exactly was the cause of this fire. Right now we do not have a cause, but we do know that it has been deemed an accidental fire. We do have really good insurance. We are planning to rebuild. We're not asking for any support at this time financially because we do have that insurance. But we'll be back. I think it's going to take about a year for the rebuild, but we're going to try to speed that up even faster, hopefully. Locals say Portage was one of a kind. It's just a sad day for Walker. Something like that. I mean, it really hits home. I mean, this town thrives on tourism and craft beer is a big deal. Just seeing it burned down was really sad because I've had a house fire in the past and it's not good. It was a beautiful place. As the owners set their sights on rebuilding, right now they say the reaction for the community has been positively overwhelming. Between locals, people in the Minnesota beer community, people nationally. I mean, it's just, we've gotten a lot of emails, text messages, phone calls. It's been nonstop. It still is. My phone's been ringing nonstop. So I think that just solidified our necessity to bring this bereave back. Reporting in Walker, Sheramore, Lakeland News. Arson has been ruled out as a cause of the fire. The Hackensack Fire Department also assisted in putting out the blaze. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.