Firefighter Ignores Risk to His Life in Pit Rescue

Climbing into the industrial furnace, Robert Ortega pushed aside thoughts about whether the two men slumped at the bottom were still alive.

The veteran firefighter also tried not to think about the chemicals in the pit that had knocked out the men.

All that mattered was getting them out.

With a rope and a full bottle of air tied around his waist, Ortega, 48, slipped through the 3-foot opening and started untangling the limp limbs of the men.

Ortega hadn’t expected this, he said, a day after risking his life to try to save them.

Authorities were still trying to determine what caused the deaths of the workers and what safety precautions had been taken before the tragedy.

The first call was received by Los Angeles Fire Department’s Station 93 on Ventura Boulevard just before 9:30 a.m. Thursday. It was listed as a fallen man, possibly two, at Bodycote Hinderliter, a Tarzana plant that specializes in heat treatment for airplane parts and other metals.

Firefighters found a cylindrical vacuum furnace that looks like a big clothes dryer and can reach temperatures of 2,000 degrees. It sat 6 feet underground and stretched roughly 6 feet in diameter.

“We need someone to go in,” Ortega heard another firefighter yell.

Without a thought, he suited up, strapped a breathing apparatus onto his 180-pound frame and climbed into what he described as a narrow tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, nonflammable argon gas sapped the air of oxygen. Oil residue made the ground slick. A small light at the bottom shone through the darkness.

Ortega saw the men. One sat slumped with crossed legs and drooping arms. The other lay on his right side, his body partially covering his co-worker, his arms at odd angles.

“They did not look alive,” Ortega said, “but I couldn’t think about it.”

Instead, he concentrated on his breathing. With less than 45 minutes of air, Ortega knew he had to work fast.

With all of his equipment, Ortega did not have much room. He straightened the bodies and tied ropes to them.

The firefighters above hoisted the men one by one and administered CPR.

An exhausted Ortega climbed out of the furnace, with time still left on his air tank.

“I hope they can get back to life,” He recalled thinking. “I hope they are not dead.”

Neither man made it. Steven Horan, 36, died of pulmonary arrest and Duane Pesicka, 43, died of asphyxiation, according to the San Fernando Valley hospitals where they were taken.

Ortega learned that Horan died trying to rescue Pesicka, his best friend and co-worker who had been replacing a valve in the furnace.

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

Phil Stella, Bodycote’s West Coast district manager, said the international company will not comment until an investigation is completed, which can take up to six months.

State law requires that a company sample the air before a worker enters a confined space, to ensure sufficient ventilation and rule out contamination.

It also mandates that workers in confined spaces use a body harness or a face mask as safety precautions.

Ortega said he saw neither man with a harness or a face mask.

“I saw two men who looked like they were dead, and I couldn’t help but think about their families,” said Ortega, a husband and father of three who lives in Kern County. “I just hoped for the best, but I can’t dwell on a tragedy.

“My priority is to focus.”