World-famous firefighter Paul Neal “Red” Adair (1915–2004) was born in Houston, Texas. The inspiration for John Wayne’s character in the 1968 film Hellfighters, Adair gained legendary status by extinguishing the fires Saddam Hussein ignited across Kuwait after the Gulf War.

“Kuwait was easy,” Adair explained. “We put all the fires out with water—just went from one to the next.”

He fought his first oil blaze in 1938 and rose to global fame by capping the 1962 “Devil’s Cigarette Lighter” fire—a 450-foot inferno in the Sahara Desert that burned for six months.

“It scares you: all the noise, the rattling, the shaking,” he said. “But the look on everybody’s face when you’re finished and packing—it’s the best smile in the world.”

The Sahara blaze was powered by millions of cubic feet of gas daily. Many considered that accomplishment nearly superhuman.

“Danger,” wrote dramatist George Chapman, “the spur of all great minds.”

Adair was credited with fighting over 2,000 fires across land and sea. He lived on the edge with unmatched courage, integrity, and strength, risking his life to save others with passion and purpose.

“A man is a hero, not because he is braver than anyone else,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson, “but because he is brave for 10 minutes longer.”