Sources ID the PGW worker killed in gas blast

Mark Keeley, 19, who followed in his father's footsteps when he joined the Philadelphia Gas Works, was the PGW worker killed Tuesday night in a gas explosion in Tacony, sources said.

Three other PGW workers remained at Temple University Hospital's burn unit yesterday while investigators tried to determine what caused the blast.

A gas leak that could be smelled several blocks away was reported about 7:20 p.m. on Torresdale Avenue near Disston Street , Executive Fire Chief Daniel Williams said.

"It's not like you got a little whiff from your hot water," he said.

Williams said the strong odor was beneficial because many residents self-evacuated, but about 40 people, including 24 from a senior-citizens home, had to be evacuated by fire officials.

When PGW workers arrived, they found a broken 12-inch, high-pressure gas main along with a water-main break, Williams said. The explosion occurred when the gas main ruptured about 8:30 p.m., while workers were trying to repair it.

Firefighters battled the subsequent three-alarm blaze for more than 2 hours before it was under control.

Keeley's body was discovered in the rubble of a building that was destroyed in the blast, Williams said.

Sources confirmed that Keeley, of Fox Chase, had worked for the company for about year and that his father was a longtime employee. He was a 2009 graduate of Cardinal Dougherty High School.

A man who answered the phone at the family's home last night said they were grieving and declined to comment further.

"Our worst fears were realized, when we lost a member of the Philadelphia Gas Works family," PGW president Thomas Knudsen said in a statement.

A PGW spokeswoman said the last worker to die in an explosion was in the late 1970s.

In all, five PGW workers were taken to local hospitals.

A firefighter who suffered smoke inhalation was treated and released, Williams said.

Residents were allowed to return yesterday, but the building where the explosion occurred, which housed a chiropractor's office, was destroyed, and two nearby buildings were heavily damaged in the fire, Williams said.

Torresdale Avenue will be closed "for some time" as the fire marshal investigates the cause of the explosion, he said.