The world today will mourn the passing of Red Adair, one of the most legendary firemen of all time. Red founded the Red Adair Company in the 1950’s and was a key part of the recovery efforts after the first Gulf War in 1991:
Paul N. “Red” Adair, a world-renowned oil well firefighter who revolutionized the science of capping exploding and burning wells, has died, his daughter said. He was 89.
Adair, who boasted that none of his employees ever suffered a serious injury fighting the dangerous fires, died Saturday evening of natural causes at a Houston hospital, his daughter, Robyn Adair, told The Associated Press.
Adair founded Red Adair Co. Inc. in 1959 and 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 5-foot-7 Houston native proudly 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.