Fire destroys popular restaurant near Troutdale

'Shirley's Tippy Canoe' was featured in a segment on Food Network show

TROUTDALE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- An early-morning fire destroyed Shirley's Tippy Canoe restaurant near Troutdale, a popular destination for travelers throughout the region.

KGW reported flames broke out shortly after 5 a.m., and the Corbett Fire Department chief said the building was a total loss.

Multnomah County sheriff's deputies patrolling the area spotted smoke coming from a second-story window and informed fire agencies. U.S. Highway 30 was closed during firefighting efforts.

A nearby wildfire nearly forced the business to close in 2018, the station reported.

The Eagle Creek fire kept customers away to the point that a GoFundMe account was created to help the owner, Shirley Welton, who had turned the former biker bar (and before that, a logger's stop in the early '40s) into a popular family restaurant, even earning a visit from the Food Network's Guy Fieri for a segment on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."