A fire at a welding shop on Thirteenth Street caused considerable damage Thursday morning but some of the equipment was salvaged.

The fire at Thompson's Welding was the first time the Roanoke Rapids Fire Department used its ladder truck since it was sent away for repairs, Chief Gary Corbet said today.

Corbet said the cause of the fire is being considered undetermined but not suspicious. The fire department may call the state Fire Marshall's office in to investigate because there are not that many commercial fires in the city.

The fire department received the call shortly before 2 a.m. and had the fire contained shortly after 3 a.m.

When firefighters arrived they observed flames coming from the roof of the building, which is located at 115 West Thirteenth Street. The flames were observed coming down the right side of the building about halfway down.

Firefighters laid lines and used the ladder truck. Part of the roof collapsed but there was very little fire in the middle of the building, according to the chief.

Corbet said the building will need a new roof and the brick and mortar will have to be inspected. The fire damaged work benches and some welding equipment.

While there was flammable gas equipment inside the building, the flames were on the other side of the building. "We felt we had a shot at getting the fire out before it reached that point," Corbet said.

There was no immediate estimate of damages.

This was the first time the fire department used the ladder truck since sending it away for repairs. "It worked great," Corbet said. "It was the perfect tool for a fire like this."

Had the truck not been repaired the fire department would have had to call for assistance.

The city appropriated $20,000 in this year’s budget to have the swivel, which is attached to the turntable, repaired.

The turntable got metal shavings in the hydraulic fluid, one of the signs something was wrong with the 1998 model ladder truck. Then there was a grinding noise during weekly tests of the equipment.

Firefighters discovered there was a hydraulic fluid leak so the fire department took the truck to Virginia to find out where the leak was coming from. That required taking the ladder off, something the Virginia factory couldn’t do.

In his budget notes for negotiations before the budget was passed in June, Corbet said the swivel operating the turntable of the aerial ladder “is worn to a point of possible failure. This failure may occur at any time when we have raised the ladder.”

The manufacturer — KME — says the piece may fail the next time it is used or it may last two to three years.

The fire department decided to limit use of the truck and use its reserve pumper.

The ladder truck has a history of problems. The cab has fallen off and because of its weight, it goes through tires quickly and it has spring and alignment issues.