(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
This is Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Faith Lapidus with People in America in VOA SpecialEnglish. Today we tell about Red Adair. He was famous for puttingout dangerous oil well fires around the world.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Paul Neal Adair was born in Houston, Texas in nineteen fifteen.He was one of five sons of a metal worker. He also had threesisters. While growing up, he became known as Red Adair because hishair was bright red. The color became a trademark for Adair. He worered clothes and red boots. He drove a red car, and his crew membersused red trucks and red equipment.
As a young man, Red Adair dropped out of high school to helpsupport his family. He worked as a laborer for several differentcompanies. In nineteen thirty-eight, Adair got his first oil-relatedjob with the Otis Pressure Control Company.
VOICE TWO:
During World War Two, Adair served on a trained army team thatremoved and destroyed bombs. After the war, he returned to Houstonand took a job with Myron Kinley. At the time, Kinley was the leaderin putting out fires in oil wells. Red Adair worked with MyronKinley for fourteen years. But in nineteen fifty-nine, Adair startedhis own company.
During his thirty-six years in business, Red Adair and his crewsbattled more than two thousand fires all over the world. Some wereon land. Others were on ocean oil-drilling structures. Some fireswere in burning oil wells. Others were in natural gas wells.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Red Adair was a leader in aspecialized and extremely dangerous profession. Putting out oil wellfires can be difficult. This is because oil well fires areextinguished, or put out, at the wellhead just above ground.Normally, explosives are used to stop the fire from burning. Theexplosion robs the fire of oxygen. But, once the fire is out, thewell 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 firecould cause the leaking well and the surrounding area to explode.
VOICE TWO:
Red Adair developed modern methods to extinguish and coverburning oil wells. They became known in the industry as Wild WellControl techniques. In addition to explosives, the techniquesinvolved large amounts of water and dirt. Adair also developedspecial equipment made of bronze metal to help extinguish oil wellfires. The modern tools and his Wild Well Control techniques earnedRed Adair and his crews the honor of being called the “best in thebusiness.”
Red Adair was known for not being afraid. He was also known forhis sense of calm and safety. None of his workers were ever killedwhile putting out oil well or gas fires. He described his work thisway: “It scares you — all the noise, the rattling, the shaking. Butthe look on everyone’s face, when you are finished and packing, itis the best smile in the world; and there is nobody hurt, and thewell is under control.”
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
One of Red Adair’s most important projects was in nineteensixty-two. He and his crew put out a natural gas fire in the SaharaDesert in Algeria. The fire had been burning for six months. Thisfamous fire was called the “Devil’s Cigarette Lighter.” Fire fromthe natural gas well shot about one hundred forty meters into theair. The fire was so big that American astronaut John Glenn couldsee it from space as he orbited Earth. The desert sand around thewell had melted into glass from the extreme heat. News reports saidAdair used about three hundred forty kilograms of nitroglycerineexplosive material to pull the oxygen out of the fire.
VOICE TWO:
Adair’s success with the “Devil’s Cigarette Lighter” and earlierwell 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, Texaswhose life was similar to Adair’s. Adair served as an advisor toWayne while the film was being made. The two men became closefriends. Adair said one of the best honors in the world was to haveJohn Wayne play him in a movie.
Here is John Wayne in the film “Hellfighters.” He has just flowninto Venezuela to help his crew fight a dangerous fire. He hasbrought needed supplies with him.
((SOUND))
“Wooo. It’s about time you got back to earning an honest living.If you think I’m going to say it’s a pleasure to be here, forget it.Hi boss. George, nice to see you. I spent a lot of your money. Well,what did you do, buy up all the control heads in Houston? This faraway from supplies, you get all the spares you can. This is ColonelValdez Chance. He’s in charge of keeping us from getting shot. Well,I hope you do a good job, Colonel. If I do not, you will have myprofound apologies. (Laughter) The longer you guys stand there, thelonger it’s going to take to unload this thing. Right Joe…”
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen eighty-eight, Adair fought what was possibly theworld’s worst off-shore accident. It was at the Piper Alpha drillingstructure in the North Sea. Occidental Petroleum operated thestructure off the coast of Scotland. The structure produced oil andgas from twenty-four wells.
One hundred sixty-seven men werekilled when the structure exploded after a gas leak. Red Adair hadto stop the fires and cap the wells. He faced winds blowing morethan one hundred twenty kilometers an hour, and ocean waves at leasttwenty meters high.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
In March of nineteen ninety-one, Red Adair went to Kuwaitfollowing the Persian Gulf War. He and his crews were called in tohelp put out fires set by the Iraqi army as it fled from coalitionforces. But Adair faced serious problems in putting out the fires.In June, he flew to Washington, D.C. to talk to government officialsabout those problems. He told congressional lawmakers that he neededmore water and more equipment. He also described his concerns aboutmedical services for his men, and the buried landmines throughoutKuwait.
VOICE ONE:
Adair also met with then-President George H.W. Bush. PresidentBush listened to his concerns and offered his support. Within weeks,Adair had the equipment he needed to complete the job.
The Red Adair Company capped more than one hundred wells. Hiscrews were among twenty-seven teams from sixteen countries called into fight the fires. The crews’ efforts put out about seven hundredKuwaiti fires. Their efforts saved millions of barrels of oil. Someexperts say the operation also helped prevent an environmentaltragedy.
The job had been expected to take three to five years. However,it was completed in just eight months. In a ceremony, the Emir ofKuwait extinguished the last burning well on November sixth,nineteen ninety-one.
In addition to Kuwait, Adair and his men carried out sixteenother jobs that year. They worked in India, Venezuela, Nigeria, theGulf of Mexico and the United States.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Red Adair had spent his seventy-sixth birthday in Kuwait workingside by side with his crew. When asked when he might retire, he toldreporters: “Retire? I do not know what that word means. As long as aman is able to work, and he is productive out there and he feelsgood – keep at it.”
Still, Red Adair finally did retire in nineteen ninety-four. Atthat time, he joked about where he would end up when he died. Hesaid he hoped to be in Heaven. But he said this about Hell: “I havemade a deal with the devil. He said he is going to give me anair-conditioned place when I go down there – if I go there – so Iwon’t put all the fires out.”
VOICE ONE:
Red Adair died in two thousand four. He was eighty-nine yearsold. At his funeral, many family members and friends honored him bywearing red clothes. Many Americans remember Red Adair for hisbravery. He lived his life on the edge of danger. He was known forhis willingness to risk his own life to save others.
During his life, Adair received Special Letters of Recognitionfrom Presidents Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.One of the letters said this: “You have served your country well byyour willingness to do a dangerous and important job with a rareability. In an age said to be without heroes, you are an authentichero.”
((THEME))
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Jill Moss. It was produced by LawanDavis. This is Faith Lapidus.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for People inAmerica in VOA Special English.