2 Men Die After Inhaling Toxic Gas

A man was asphyxiated while cleaning a furnace at a metallurgical plant in Tarzana on Thursday, and his best friend died trying to rescue him, authorities said.

Neither man wore a mask that might have protected them from deadly argon gas used in the plant to treat aircraft parts, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said.

Authorities identified the men as Steven Horan, 36, and Dwayne Pesicka, 43, both of Burbank. Horan died of pulmonary arrest suffered as he tried to rescue Pesicka, who was asphyxiated, according to the hospitals where they died shortly afterward.

“It was a heroic act,” Capt. Rick Godinez, a Fire Department spokesman, said of Horan, the would-be rescuer. “It’s unfortunate they both died.”

Firefighters hauled the two men out with ropes and administered CPR. “He knew what was going on when he went into the pit,” said Horan’s brother-in-law, Rick Frushey, 38, of Burbank. “He gave his life for a friend. Without a doubt, I’m proud. We’re going to miss him forever.”

Bodycote Hinderliter operates the plant, which specializes in heat treatment for airplane parts and other metals. Officials from its headquarters in Fort Worth sent representatives to the scene Thursday but declined comment. Bodycote and government investigators also declined to discuss the accident.

State and county officials are investigating the deaths at Bodycote, which has had a clean record with the state for the last 11 years, according to Cal/OSHA, the agency that investigates workplace injuries and deaths.

Pesicka, a maintenance worker, was overcome shortly after 9 a.m. as he replaced a valve in the nine-foot-deep furnace. Horan, a plant engineer who supervised Pesicka and was described by co-workers as his best friend, went in after him, but was overcome by the fumes. A third man called 911.

Horan, who had worked for Bodycote since 1992, lived for his wife, two sons and daughter, ages 14, 11 and 10, Frushey said. He took his children camping, loved riding motorcycles and kept close ties with his extended family, which includes two sisters.

“Family came first,” Frushey said. “He always saw the good in everyone and everything. He loved life.”

Pesicka’s wife, who declined to give her name, could only muster a few words outside their apartment Thursday.

“I don’t have anything to say except I want my husband back.” Pointing to the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, she said, “What am I supposed to do with my kids?”

The couple also has a 7-year-old son, said Paige Heaphy, Pesicka’s neighbor.

“He was a very loving father, and would do anything for anyone,” Heaphy said. “That’s why we were such close neighbors.”

Fire Capt. Bruce Frashure said Horan and Pesicka showed no sign of life when firefighters, who donned breathing apparatus, pulled them out.

“For whatever reason, the ventilation just was not there,” said Frashure, who required treatment for dizziness at the scene.

The cylindrical vacuum furnace is about six feet in diameter and can reach up to 2,000 degrees. The high temperatures oxidize metal, while the gases nitrogen and argon help treat it, officials said. Argon is a nonflammable gas that depletes oxygen.

Because the furnace sits six feet underground and workers inside can only enter and leave through a single opening at the top, the furnace is considered a “confined space,” which makes it subject to stringent state safety and health regulations, said Dean Fryer, spokesman for Cal/OSHA.

State law requires that a company sample the air right before a worker enters such a confined space to ensure there is sufficient ventilation and no contamination, Fryer said. There are supposed to be at least two people working together, one inside and another outside the confined space watching the other in case of an emergency.

The law also requires a device such as a body harness that would allow the person inside to be quickly pulled out, or a respirator with a face mask that would allow a rescuer to enter safely, Fryer said. The investigation has not yet determined what safety measures had been taken, he said.

Investigators will interview the plant’s management and employees, inspect the premises and determine whether workers are properly trained on safety procedures, Fryer said. By law, the agency must complete its investigation within six months.

Bodycote’s record suggests its employees in California have not suffered serious injuries on the job for the last 11 years, Fryer said.

An investigator from the district attorney’s office is also involved in the investigation, said Tom Simpson, supervising investigator for the district attorney’s environmental crimes unit.

Located in an industrial area at 18600 Oxnard St., the plant is registered with the Environmental Protection Agency because it generates small quantities of hazardous waste, said Wendy Chavez, spokeswoman for the Pacific Southwest region of the EPA. That agency’s records show no violations by the plant in the last 20 years.

On Thursday afternoon, about 20 workers in faded navy uniforms sat outside Bodycote’s brick building.

“They were good guys,” said one man, who declined to give his name. “They thought about everyone. We’re a tight group. . . . I’m going to miss them.”

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Times staff writers Zanto Peabody and Andrew Blankstein contributed to this story.