On the Morning of Saturday April 13th 2013 Gastonia Fire units were dispatched to 1925 West Poplar St for a reported smoke coming from a large warehouse. First arriving units reported smoke showing and set up for a offensive attack. Units quickly realized that due to the amount of storage in the facility this was going to be a tough task without more help. The Commanding officer quickly called for a second and a third alarm assignment bringing help from several departments in the county including Union Road VFD with Ladder 51 and QRV 51. Command made the decision to go defensive on the fire due to the age of the building and the quick moving fire. URVFD's crew was sent on an initial assignment to access the roof of the building via GFD Ladder 3 and check conditions. Members climbed to the top and noticed that there was some spots already starting to vent and that the roof was quickly becoming unfit for operations. Our crew made their way down and then was assigned to assist in setting up exterior operations. After an extensive exterior firefighting operation which included 4 ladder trucks with elevated master streams flowing and numerous ground monitors and 2.5 inch hand lines the roof collapsed and the fire was brought to a point to where roof operations could resume and try and stop the spread of fire to a connected warehouse that was not yet effected. After several hours and a long day of work put in by all members and units on the scene the fire was brought under control and all Volunteer units were cleared and returned to service.