Survivors’ Recollections of Leak Hazy : Accident: Funeral services set for three victims of Pride Petroleum tragedy. Investigation continues.

As the families of three Ventura County oil workers killed in a toxic gas leak prepared to lay their relatives to rest, the four survivors of the accident struggled Friday with hazy recollections of what had taken place.

Derek Abbott of Oak View was released from Los Robles Regional Medical Center late Thursday after intensive oxygen treatments. He said the circumstances surrounding Wednesday’s oil well accident make him depressed and are difficult for him to think about.

“I’m just kind of hurt inside about all of what happened,” Abbott said in an interview outside his home, “and I’m sorry.”

Abbott, 18, had been working for Pride Petroleum for six months. He said he had no idea why he and his co-workers were feeling ill Wednesday until he was informed by doctors that he had inhaled hydrogen sulfide gas.

“I never knew it was dangerous gas until I got to the hospital and they told me,” Abbott said.

Mike Furrow, vice president and area manager for Pride Petroleum, said the company may not have taught Abbott about the dangers of hydrogen sulfide but that the company’s other injured workers had gone through a company training program.

“(Abbott) was a trainee and most likely had not gone through a training course yet,” Furrow said. “That may be something we need to change.”

Killed in the accident were Ronald Johnson, 24, and Jason Hoskins, 22, both of Ventura, and Sean David Harris, 26, of Oxnard. All three worked for Pride Petroleum.

Abbott said he has not decided if he will continue to work for Pride Petroleum.

Jeff Sandoval of Bakersfield, who was working at the site for Schlumberger Well Services at the time of the accident, was treated for respiratory problems at St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital and released Thursday.

Sandoval, 34, said the details of the accident were “fuzzy” and he was still trying to piece together what occurred. He said he almost passed out from the hydrogen sulfide fumes he breathed.

“It happened so quick. . . . We did everything we could,” Sandoval said.

While he held his breath, Sandoval was strapped to a harness and lowered down to try to rescue the three victims. But he does not think he made it all the way down into the concrete cellar where the men had collapsed, he said.

Toby Thrower, 55, the site supervisor for Pride Petroleum, was released from St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital on Thursday after receiving oxygen treatment.

“It was just a terrible situation for everybody,” said Thrower’s wife, Shirley, from their home in Oak View. She said her husband had been advised by doctors to rest.

Jerry Walker, 41, of Bakersfield remained at Los Robles Regional Medical Center, where he was in fair condition Friday. He declined to comment on the accident.

Furrow of Pride Petroleum said his company is having increasing doubts about whether hydrogen sulfide gas caused the workers to collapse as is suspected. Subsequent testing by the company at the well site showed low levels of hydrogen sulfide, he said.

“It appears that maybe it was not (hydrogen sulfide),” Furrow said. “It appears that it could have been something to do with chemicals that came out of the ground with the water.” The company has not yet determined what those other chemicals may have been, he said.

The Ventura County coroner’s office is performing toxicology tests to determine if hydrogen sulfide was the cause of death, or whether other gases were involved. The test results will take several weeks, Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens said.

Investigators from Pride Petroleum, Vintage Petroleum and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Administration are conducting separate probes of the accident, interviewing survivors and examining the site. The Cal-OSHA investigation, which could possibly lead to criminal and civil charges against the oil companies, will take several weeks, said Cal-OSHA spokesman John Duncan.

Funeral services for Harris will take place today at Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura. Services for Johnson will take place Sunday at the James A. Reardon Mortuary in Oxnard, and services for Hoskins will take place Monday at the Charles Carroll Funeral Home in Ventura.