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Red Adair, 1915-2004: He
Put Out Dangerous Oil and Natural Gas Fires Around the World |
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Transcript of radio broadcast: |
VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE
TWO:
And this is
Faith Lapidus with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we
tell about Red Adair. He was famous for putting out dangerous oil well
fires around the world.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
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Red Adair |
Paul Neal
Adair was born in Houston, Texas in nineteen fifteen. He was one of five
sons of a metal worker. He also had three sisters. While growing
up, he became known as Red Adair because his hair was bright red. The
color became a trademark for Adair. He wore red
clothes and red boots. He drove a red car, and his crew members used red
trucks and red equipment.
As a young
man, Red Adair dropped out of high school to help support his family. He
worked as a laborer for several different companies. In nineteen
thirty-eight, Adair got his first oil-related job with the Otis Pressure
Control Company.
VOICE TWO:
During
World War Two, Adair served on a trained army team that removed and destroyed
bombs. After the war, he returned to Houston and took a job with Myron
Kinley. At the time, Kinley was the leader in putting out fires in
oil wells. Red Adair worked with Myron Kinley for fourteen years. But in
nineteen fifty-nine, Adair started his own company.
During his
thirty-six years in business, Red Adair and his crews battled more than two
thousand fires all over the world. Some were on land. Others were
on ocean oil-drilling structures. Some fires were in burning oil
wells. Others were in natural gas wells.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Red Adair
was a leader in a specialized and extremely dangerous profession. Putting
out oil well fires can be difficult. This is because oil well fires are
extinguished, or put out, at the wellhead just above ground. Normally,
explosives are used to stop the fire from burning. The explosion robs the
fire of oxygen. But, once the fire is out, the well still needs to be
covered, or capped, to stop the flow of oil. This is the most dangerous
part of the process. Any new heat or fire could cause the leaking well
and the surrounding area to explode.
VOICE TWO:
Red Adair
developed modern methods to extinguish and cover burning oil wells.
They became
known in the industry as Wild Well Control techniques. In addition to
explosives, the techniques involved large amounts of water and dirt.
Adair also developed special equipment made of bronze metal to help extinguish
oil well fires. The modern tools and his Wild Well Control techniques
earned Red Adair and his crews the honor of being called the "best in the
business."
Red Adair
was known for not being afraid. He was also known for his sense of calm
and safety. None of his workers were ever killed while putting out oil
well or gas fires. He described his work this way: "It scares
you -- all the noise, the rattling, the shaking.
But the look on everyone's face, when you are finished and packing, it is the
best smile in the world; and there is nobody hurt, and the well is under
control."
(MUSIC)
VOICE
ONE:
One of Red
Adair's most important projects was in nineteen sixty-two. He and his
crew put out a natural gas fire in the Sahara Desert in Algeria. The fire had
been burning for six months. This famous fire was called the "Devil's
Cigarette Lighter."
Fire from
the natural gas well shot about one hundred forty meters into the air. The fire
was so big that American astronaut John Glenn could see it from space as he
orbited Earth.
The desert
sand around the well had melted into glass from the extreme heat. News
reports said Adair used about three hundred forty kilograms of nitroglycerine
explosive material to pull the oxygen out of the fire.
VOICE TWO:
Adair's
success with the "Devil's Cigarette Lighter" and earlier well fires
captured the imagination of the American film industry. In nineteen
sixty-eight, Hollywood made an action film called
"Hellfighters." It was loosely based on events in Red Adair's
life. Actor John Wayne played an oil well firefighter from Houston,
Texas whose life was similar to Adair's. Adair served as an advisor to
Wayne while the film was being made. The two men became close
friends. Adair said one of the best honors in the world was to have John
Wayne play him in a movie.
Here is
John Wayne in the film "Hellfighters." He has just flown into
Venezuela to help his crew fight a dangerous fire. He has brought
needed supplies with him.
JOE HORN: "Wooo.
It's about time you got back to earning an honest living."
CHANCE BUCKMAN (JOHN
WAYNE): "If you think I'm going to say it's a pleasure to be here, forget
it."
GEORGE HARRIS: "Hi
boss."
CHANCE BUCKMAN:
"George, nice to see you. I spent a lot of your money."
GREG PARKER: "Well,
what did you do, buy up all the control heads in Houston?"
CHANCE BUCKMAN: "This
far away from supplies, you get all the spares you can."
GREG PARKER: "This is
Colonel Valdez, Chance. He's in charge of keeping us from getting
shot."
CHANCE BUCKMAN: "Well,
I hope you do a good job, Colonel."
COLONEL VALDEZ: "If I
do not, you will have my profound apologies."
(LAUGHTER)
JOE HORN: "The longer
you guys stand there, the longer it's going to take to unload this thing."
CHANCE BUCKMAN: "Right
Joe…"
VOICE ONE:
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Red
Adair fighting the Piper Alpha fire off the northeast coast of Scotland |
In nineteen
eighty-eight, Adair fought what was possibly the world's worst off-shore
accident. It was at the Piper Alpha drilling structure in the North
Sea. Occidental Petroleum operated the structure off the coast of
Scotland. The structure produced oil and gas from twenty-four wells.
One hundred
sixty-seven men were killed when the structure exploded after a gas leak.
Red Adair had to stop the fires and cap the wells. He faced winds blowing
more than one hundred twenty kilometers an hour, and ocean waves at least
twenty meters high.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
In March of
nineteen ninety-one, Red Adair went to Kuwait following the Persian Gulf
War. He and his crews were called in to help put out fires set by the
Iraqi army as it fled from coalition forces. But Adair faced serious
problems in putting out the fires. In June, he flew to Washington, D.C.
to talk to government officials about those problems. He told
congressional lawmakers that he needed more water and more equipment. He also
described his concerns about medical services for his men, and the buried
landmines throughout Kuwait.
VOICE ONE:
Adair also
met with then-President George H.W. Bush. President Bush listened to his
concerns and offered his support. Within weeks, Adair had the equipment
he needed to complete the job.
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An oil fire in Kuwait |
The Red
Adair Company capped more than one hundred wells. His crews were among
twenty-seven teams from sixteen countries called in to fight the fires. The
crews' efforts put out about seven hundred Kuwaiti fires. Their efforts saved
millions of barrels of oil. Some experts say the operation also helped
prevent an environmental tragedy.
The job had
been expected to take three to five years. However, it was completed in
just eight months. In a ceremony, the Emir of Kuwait extinguished
the last burning well on November sixth, nineteen ninety-one.
In addition
to Kuwait, Adair and his men carried out sixteen other jobs that year. They
worked in India, Venezuela, Nigeria, the Gulf of Mexico and the United States.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Red Adair
had spent his seventy-sixth birthday in Kuwait working side by side with his
crew. When asked when he might retire, he told reporters: "Retire? I
do not know what that word means. As long as a man is able to work, and
he is productive out there and he feels good – keep at it."
Still, Red
Adair finally did retire in nineteen ninety-four. At that time, he
joked about where he would end up when he died. He said he hoped to be in
Heaven. But he said this about Hell: "I have made a deal with
the devil. He said he is going to give me an air-conditioned place when I
go down there – if I go there – so I won't put all the fires out."
VOICE ONE:
Red Adair
died in two thousand four. He was eighty-nine years old. At
his funeral, many family members and friends honored him by wearing red
clothes. Many Americans remember Red Adair for his bravery. He
lived his life on the edge of danger. He was known for his willingness to
risk his own life to save others.
During his
life, Adair received Special Letters of Recognition from Presidents Lyndon
Johnson, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. One of the letters said
this: "You have served your country well by your willingness to do a
dangerous and important job with a rare ability. In an age said to be without
heroes, you are an authentic hero."
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
This
program was written by Jill Moss. It was produced by Lawan Davis.
This is Faith Lapidus.
VOICE ONE:
And this is
Steve Ember. Join us again next week for People in America in VOA Special
English.