Safety BOSS is an oil well firefighting company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1956 in Alberta, Canada by K.J. Miller, SafetyBoss set out to specialize in response to emergencies at oil production facilities, particularly oil wells. In 1979, K.J. Miller's son, Mike Miller took over the company.
History
Under the leadership of Mike Miller, Safety Boss expanded internationally through the 1980s, responding to oil well fires across the globe.
In 1983, Safety Boss developed a fire fighting vehicle designed with the sole function of attacking oil and natural gas production well fires. Its design was spurred by a destructive and difficult to extinguish oil well fire in Alberta. Called the 'Smoky Series' they have 3,000-gallon pumps, capacity for AR-AFFF Foam and purple 'K' dry chemical. In addition to firefighting abilities, the trucks are fitted with an emergency shower, and decontamination facilities.
Kuwait Oil Fires
In February 1991, Safety Boss took three of their Smokey Fire Trucks, and support equipment filling two C5 aircraft and departed for Kuwait to battle oil well fires started by retreating troops at the end of the Persian Gulf War. The retreating Iraqi forces had set approximately 670 oil wells alight. Safety Boss set the pace, extinguishing 180 fires, the most of any organization involved in the effort, and were responsible for extinguishing the final well fire, which was doused by the push of a button by the Emir of Kuwait. The Smoky Series fire trucks impressed the Kuwait Oil CompanyFire Department, who offered to buy two of the Smokey fire trucks brought by Safety Boss as part of the effort for future emergencies. Safety Boss sold the trucks, Smokey 1 and 3, which as of 2017 are still in use by the KOC.
2000s Onward
As Safety Boss entered the 2000s, they expanded beyond just oil well firefighting, moving to also be a broader industrial safety company servicing more fields such as forestry, mining and hydro-electric, offering occupational safety training courses, first aid and rescue, air quality monitoring and staff drug testing.
