City: Most school boilers safe but need repairs

Most boilers in Philadelphia public schools are safe but need repairs, officials said Thursday, about three months after one exploded at an East Mount Airy elementary school, critically injuring a maintenance worker.

Authorities inspected all functioning boilers in city schools after the Jan. 13 explosion at F.S. Edmonds Elementary that hurt mechanic Christopher Trakimas.

Of the 542 boilers in Philadelphia School District buildings tested, 531 - 98 percent - passed inspection, a report released Thursday said.

However, 58 percent of the boilers still need minor repairs, the report said. Just 40 percent passed with no repairs required. In total, the inspections, conducted by Devine Brothers Inc., General Asphalt Paving Co., and Philadelphia Gas Works, generated 413 work orders, authorities said.

Eleven boilers were taken off-line temporarily so more significant repairs could be made. An additional 54 boilers in district buildings were not inspected because they were already out of service.

Boilers failed inspections at Cook-Wissahickon Elementary, A. Philip Randolph Career and Technical High, Julia Ward Howe Academics Plus Elementary, Solis-Cohen Elementary, Pratt Elementary, Washington High field house, Philip Sheridan Elementary, South Philadelphia High, Dunbar Promise Academy, and Roxborough High School.

After the Edmonds explosion, Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, which represents Trakimas and other maintenance workers, said safety protocols and pleas for maintenance had long been ignored by the district amid shrinking budgets.

A forensic engineer is still working to determine what caused the Edmonds explosion. The results of that investigation are expected in about six to eight weeks, officials said.

The district said 46 of the 413 repair orders had been completed and all would be finished before the next heating season starts.