Oil Fire Specialist

Although they’re bad news wherever they take place — a house, office building, or forest preserve — fires are especially dangerous when they take place in oilfields and on rigs.

Oil well fires happen when an oil well is being drilled where there’s excessive pressure in the earth. Occasionally, this pressure causes a “blowout”: a sudden uprush of oil from the well. Like a geyser, the uprush typically sprays oil all over the drill site, where a single spark can quickly ignite the entire well, creating a massive fire that can reach temperatures of 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Fighting a fire that hot requires the special attention of an Oil Fire Specialist.

As an Oil Fire Specialist, you’re tasked with reducing a blowout’s pressure for the purpose of preventing a fire, and to fight and contain a fire when one starts. A “Super Firefighter ” who’s employed by oil and emergency response companies, you do this with the assistance of special clothing and breathing equipment, as well as sheets of metal that shield you from the fire’s heat. Because oil fires are more difficult to extinguish than regular fires, you may use a variety of techniques, such as: dousing the fire with water; using dynamite or liquid nitrogen to consume the oxygen that’s fueling the fire; or drilling relief wells that redirect oil from the well in order to make the fire smaller.

As much a problem solver as a Firefighter, your priorities are threefold when you’re an Oil Fire Specialist: the safety of people, the protection of equipment, and the preservation of the environment — not to mention all that “black gold”!