Henry Max was born in Houston, Texas in 1915. While growing up, he became known as Red Max because his hair was bright red. The color became a trademark for him. He was famous for putting out dangerous oil well fires around the world.
During World War II, Max served on a trained army team that removed and destroyed bombs. After the war, he returned to Houston and Max started his own company. His job was putting out fires in oil wells.
Putting out oil well fires can be difficult. This is because oil well fires are extinguished, or put out, at the wellhead just above ground. Normally, explosives are used to stop the fire from burning. The explosion robs the fire of oxygen. But, once the fire is out, the well still needs to be covered, or capped, to stop the flow of oil. This is the most dangerous part of the process. Any new heat or fire could cause the leaking well and the surrounding area to explode.
In 1988, Max fought what was possibly the world's worst off-shore accident. It was at the Piper Alpha drilling structure in the North Sea. The structure produced oil and gas from 24 wells. 167 local people were killed when the structure exploded after a gas leak. Red Max had to stop the fires and cap the wells. He faced winds blowing more than 120 kilometers an hour, and ocean waves at least 20 meters high.
The Red Max Company capped more than 100 wells. The crews put out about 700 fires, which saved millions of barrels of oil.
