Oil-Well Firefighter Clayton Comments on Possible Iraq Conflict
By Jonathan Make
Houston, March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Danny Clayton, who worked as an oil-well fire fighter in Kuwait in 1991, comments in an interview yesterday from Houston on the prospects for being sent to Iraq in a possible war.
Clayton said he worked for Red Adair's company for 17 years and is now operations manager for Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc. Such workers call themselves ``Hellfighters'' after the John Wayne movie that profiled Adair.
On a possible role in fighting fires now in Iraq versus Kuwait:
``It would be all the way from nothing happened to another full-blown Kuwait if not larger. I think we will play probably the same role. I know it will be a lot more complex, as these wells are scattered over a lot larger country. There could be zero wells to 2,000 of them.''
On the business of oil-well fire fighting:
``It is hard to explain to a stockholder, it is either feast or famine. The last 3 years have been fairly good. This year and the last half of last year has slowed down and it has been slow up until today. We're still busy, we call it just being proactive, trying to put ourselves out of business.''
On his experience in Kuwait in 1991:
``At the onset, it was rough, we didn't have the proper equipment. Toward the end it was like an assembly line, we were doing two or three a day. The harsh environment, the heat, the sandstorms, just generally it was nasty.''
``If you are at the well it is cold because of the updraft, the heat from the fire draws the air in and it is like a huge air conditioner. If you're 100 yards away from the fire it is hot, because you have radiant heat. You just protect yourself with lots of water. But if you lose your water supply you are in trouble'' as he said the heat can rise to 190 degrees Fahrenheit.
``You can get a big adrenaline rush if you see something happening that should not be happening. You have to think quick, you always have to leave yourself a way out. It is 150 percent alertness.''
03/19 09:44
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