Red Adair facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Red Adair
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Red Adair in 1964
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Paul Neal Adair
June 18, 1915 Houston, Texas, U.S.
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| Died | August 7, 2004 (aged 89) Houston, Texas, U.S.
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| Occupation | Firefighter |
Paul Neal "Red" Adair (born June 18, 1915 – died August 7, 2004) was a famous American firefighter. But he wasn't just any firefighter! Red Adair was a special kind of hero who put out huge, dangerous fires at oil and gas wells, both on land and in the ocean. He was known all over the world for his brave and smart ways of stopping these giant flames.
Contents
Early Life
Red Adair was born in Houston, Texas. His dad was a blacksmith who came from Ireland. Red went to Reagan High School in Houston.
A Career Fighting Fires
Serving His Country
During World War II, Red Adair joined the US Army. He worked in a special unit that dealt with bombs. This job taught him a lot about explosives and how to handle very dangerous situations.
Starting in the Oil Industry
After the war, Red started working in the oil business. He learned from a man named Myron Kinley, who was one of the first people to fight oil well fires. They came up with a clever way to put out fires using explosives. They would use a V-shaped charge to create a big blast of air. This blast would "snuff out" the fire by taking away its oxygen. This method was called the Munroe effect, and Red knew it was also used in things like bazookas.
Red Adair's Company
In 1959, Red Adair started his own company, Red Adair Co. Inc. Over his career, he helped put out more than 2,000 fires at oil and natural gas wells. These fires were often huge and very dangerous.
The Devil's Cigarette Lighter
Red Adair became famous around the world in 1962. He fought a massive fire in the Sahara Desert in Algeria. This fire was at the Gassi Touil gas field. It was nicknamed "The Devil's Cigarette Lighter" because it was a giant flame, about 450 feet (137 meters) tall! This huge fire burned for many months, from November 1961 to April 1962, before Red and his team finally put it out.
More Big Fires
- In 1968, Red Adair stopped a big gas leak at an oil platform off the coast of Victoria, Australia.
- Also in 1968, he put out a six-day oil well fire near Porter Ranch, Los Angeles in California.
In 1977, Red and his crew, including Asger "Boots" Hansen, helped stop the biggest oil well blowout in the North Sea at that time. This happened at the Ekofisk Bravo platform in the Norwegian part of the sea. It was the largest offshore oil spill in terms of how much oil was lost.
New Companies and Later Years
In 1978, two of Red Adair's main team members, Asger Hansen and Ed Matthews, left to start their own company called Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc..
In 1988, Red Adair helped put out the terrible Piper Alpha oil platform fire in the North Sea, which was a very difficult job.
Even when he was 75 years old, Red Adair was still working. In 1991, he helped put out the many oil well fires in Kuwait. These fires were set by Iraqi troops when they left Kuwait after the Gulf War.
Red Adair retired in 1993. He sold his company, The Red Adair Service and Marine Company. Some of his top employees then started their own company in 1994 called International Well Control (IWC).
Red Adair passed away in Houston in 2004 when he was 89 years old. He is buried in Houston.
Family
Red Adair was married and had a son and a daughter.
Legacy
- The 1968 John Wayne movie Hellfighters was inspired by Red Adair's amazing work, especially his fight against "The Devil's Cigarette Lighter" fire in the Sahara.
- In 1980, Red Adair received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
- The History Channel's show Modern Marvels had an episode about "Oil Well Firefighting." Red Adair was interviewed for this episode shortly before he passed away, and the episode was dedicated to him.
- The Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum also featured Red Adair's success in stopping "The Devil's Cigarette Lighter" fire.
- Red Adair was a longtime member of the Lakewood Yacht Club.
- In an episode of the TV show MacGyver (2016 TV series) (Season 2, Episode 6), Red Adair's life, especially the "Devil's Cigarette Lighter" event, is shown to be an inspiration for one of the characters, Jack Dalton. This helps explain why Jack knows so much about oil well fires when the team has to stop one.
