One of Houston’s genuine colorful characters of the past half-century — Paul N. “Red” Adair — has died on Saturday night at the age of 89 in Houston. In a rather stunning oversight, the Houston Chronicle does not have an article posted on Mr. Adair’s death as of Sunday morning. Update: Finally, here is the Chronicle story.
Mr. Adair was a world-renowned oil well firefighter who revolutionized the science of capping oil and gas wells that had exploded and were burning. Although his work was incredibly dangerous, Mr. Adair often boasted that none of his employees ever suffered a serious injury while fighting the fires.
Mr. Adair founded Red Adair Co. Inc. in Houston in 1959. He is credited with battling more than 2,000 land and offshore oil well fires, including the hundreds of wells left burning after the Iraqis fled Kuwait at the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991. The Houston native spent his 76th birthday clad in his traditional red overalls, swinging valves in place as his crews capped 117 Kuwaiti wells left burning by retreating Iraqi troops. Mr. Adair’s expertise contributed to making a firefighting operation expected to last three to five years a nine month operation, which saved millions of barrels of oil and prevented a potential air pollution disaster.
Mr. Adair used explosives, drilling mud and concrete to control and cap wild well fires. His reputation for having never met a blowout he couldn’t cap earned him the nickname “Hellfighter,” which inspired the title of a 1968 movie based on Adair’s life starring John Wayne. Mr. Adair always considered having Mr. Wayne play him in a movie was one of the highest honors that he ever received.