Paul Neal “Red” Adair is the most famous firefighter in the world. He risks his life putting out countless burning oil wells and gas fountains. In the Thirties, Adair, born in 1915, enters the oil business and becomes a legend when he manages to control the fire of a sudden “blow-out” (an oil well explosion). “Give me enough dynamite and I’ll blow out the fire of hell” – that is his motto. He arouses worldwide attention in 1962 by taming a 250-meter-high fountain of burning gas in the Sahara. In 1991, after the Gulf War in Kuwait, 500 oil wells are on fire. Again it is Red Adair who is called in to coordinate the extinguishing process, thus helping to prevent an environmental disaster of huge proportions. Privately, he is in search of the thrill: car and boat races, drinking bouts and fights with his friends. Today, the multi-millionaire lives quietly on his ranch in Texas.

Written and directed by Michael Wulfes Producer Thomas Schuhbauer Editorial department Gerolf Karwath, Thomas Fischer Management Thomas Fischer Location Manager Sonja Maxeiner Production manager Jörg Kunkel, Ingrid Eckerle Executive producer Andreas Knoblauch Head of production Ulrich Lenze Air date 07.04.2003, ARD Produced for SWR und Arte » back