Nov. 22--A fire Thursday afternoon at Minhas Craft Brewery in Monroe caused significant damage to the country's second-oldest brewing facility, Monroe police said.
Several fire departments were called at about 2:30 p.m. to help put out a blaze that started on the brewery's second floor, said Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley.
The brewery, 1208 14th Ave., takes up almost three city blocks in downtown Monroe and opened in 1845.
With 61 employees, the company was previously known as the Joseph Huber Brewing Co. It was purchased in 2006 by Ravinder Minhas, who has spent more than $6 million on expansions and upgrades.
The fire chief's initial investigation showed the fire started on the second floor and spread to the third floor, Kelley said.
He said he knew of no reported injuries. The 20 to 30 employees who were working in the building at the time were all able to get out safely.
Minhas, posting to the brewery's Facebook page from near Calgary, Canada, wrote, "Good news to report! All are safe and fine."
He said the damage was contained to a "non-essential part of the brewery."
Minhas said the fire was started by a third-party contractor that was working with spray insulation, which somehow caught fire.
"We will be up and running very, very shortly," he wrote.
Flames were visible out of the back of the building from the second and third floors, but were not shooting through the roof, Kelley said. Streets were closed in a two-block radius around the brewery, which is two blocks south of Monroe's main downtown square.
The brewery is a block from Monroe Middle School, and firefighters were responding to the fire at the same time that the school day was ending.
Minhas was ranked by the Colorado-based Brewers Association as the 11th-largest brewery in the country earlier this year. It brews several brands of its own, including Minhas, Mountain Crest and Boxer Lager, as well as many beers it makes under contract for other brewers.
-- State Journal reporter Rob Schultz contributed to this report.
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