UPDATED: Saturday, January 27, 2008 --- 8:45 p.m.

Falling ice during this melt can be dangerous for many reasons and one East Madison business is finding out just how much damage can be done.

They're still sifting through the ashes of an ice caused fire.

It is a quick thaw that's causing big problems.

White Knight Carpet Cleaning Business owner Bob DiLoreto says, "I don't think the fire was super intense but we do have drywall damage and quite a bit of damage in our room back there."

The gas is now shut off but a charred building and broken gas pipe show just how much damage a falling piece of ice can create.

DiLoreto says, "Yeah we got a call last night about 2 o'clock in the morning."

It's a call no business owner wants to get, a fire destroying at least 5-thousand dollars worth of equipment.

Investigators believe it all started when snow and water caused this gas pipe to sag and break away from the building.

A piece of ice then fell from the roof and seared the pipe in half, spraying gas all over the area.

Jeff Duppler with the Madison Fire Department says, "This is a good reminder for people to check the exterior of their houses."

A furnace in the building ignited the leaking gas starting a fire. It's left this carpet cleaning business with a big mess of their own to deal with. They say it will take some time before they truly know the extent of the damage.

DiLoreto says, "We have to go through what we had in the room back there. We had some drying equipment, water restoration equipment, so we have to check all that out and make sure it's working properly."

The Fire Department says the timing of a passerby who spotted the fire and called 911 saved the building from much worse damage.

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Saturday, December 27, 2008 --- 2:47 a.m.

Incident report from City of Madison Fire Department:

City of Madison firefighters extinguished a fire at White Knight Carpet Cleaning located at 2517 Advance Road late Friday night. The fire caused an estimated $5,000 damage to an exterior wall and a furnace inside the building.

A passerby discovered the fire and called 911. The building is located in a commercial area and the timing of the passerby prevented a much larger fire from occurring.

Firefighters were dispatched at 11:14 PM and arrived within eight minutes. When firefighters approached the building, they found a fire burning along the rear wall of the building. The fire was quickly extinguished and the inside of the building was checked for fire and smoke.

The fire started as the result of a broken natural gas pipe on the building’s exterior wall. It appears that snow and ice falling from the roof damaged the pipe. Fire investigators believe that the furnace ignited the leaking natural gas.

The business was closed at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. Madison Gas and Electric responded to the scene to turn off the natural gas service.