Badger School to repair older backup boiler

As highlighted at its January 13 board meeting, the Badger School took a step towards addressing its boiler issue, specifically its 1950 backup boiler that was described by Building and Grounds Manager Jarod Magnusson as not efficient to run at all at the district’s December 9, 2019 meeting. This issue left some board members concerned that the district didn’t have an efficient backup boiler to use in the winter should its newer June 1999 boiler go down.

So, the district had Burnn Boiler out of Fargo, N.D., come to the school to inspect the inside of the 1950 boiler. It identified the issue— a previous weld repair on the base of this boiler had cracked, leading to leaking. Burnn Boiler will repair this crack with some patch welding work and also install new safety valves. The hope is for Burnn Boiler to get in to make this repair by the end of the month.

While the district runs this 1999 boiler, the 1950 boiler currently sits empty, but once welded, it will be fired up and tested, Badger School Superintendent-Principal Kevin Ricke mentioned.

“We’ll see if that holds,” Ricke said about the patch welding work.

Burnn Boiler has done previous boiler work for the district, having retubed the district’s newer boiler last summer.

To see the complete Badger School Board story, read the January 15 issue of The Tribune in print or online.