The fire was reported at 1:19 p.m. in the back of the Crooked Spoon Cafe, according to a news release from the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

The fire quickly engulfed the restaurant as well as two adjoining businesses, Picnic & Pine and White Pine North. All three are on Wisconsin Street.

Volunteer firefighters from Grand Marais, Maple Hill, Lutsen and Colvill responded to the fire, with support from the Cook County Sheriff's Office and first responders from Grand Marais, North Shore Health Ambulance, Cook County Search & Rescue , Minnesota State Patrol and the Border Patrol, according to the news release.

No one was injured.

"I cannot even say enough for what those guys did," Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen said of the volunteers in a telephone interview. "I mean with the strength of the wind and the direction of the wind, that could have been half a city block taken off but they were able to contain it to those three buildings, and the adjacent buildings weren't even touched by fire."

As of late Monday afternoon, the fire was under control but firefighters remained on the scene. The Minnesota state fire marshal was en route to investigate the fire's cause, according to the news release.

The fire dealt a devastating blow to a tourism-oriented town already reeling from the impact of COVID-19, Eliasen said over the phone.

"There's going to be a significant impact," he said. With the stay-at-home orders and the businesses having been closed, now something like these is going to have a very big impact."

The Crooked Spoon, Eliasen said, "was fantastic. It was one of my favorites."

Jennifer Stoltz, manager of the Cook County Whole Foods Co-op in Grand Marais, said she had taken a lunch break at 1 p.m. and saw the flames and thick, black smoke by 1:30.

"It went up really quickly," she said.

This story was updated at 5:50 p.m. April 13 with additional information from Cook County Sheriff's Office. It was originally posted at 2:28 p.m. April 13.