Risk Management Behind Kuwait's Firefighting Emergency Plan

ABSTRACT

There are usually only about 12–30 oil-well blowouts per year worldwide. Thus, the situation in which 608 wells were burning at the same time in Kuwait, due to the implementation of the “Scorched-Earth” threat by the retreating Iraqi forces, was not only unique but was also beyond the capabilities of any nation to deal with. This article reviews the published literature on prominent oil-well blowouts both worldwide and in Kuwait before the 1991 environmental disaster, and describes the situation in the country and the status of the oil fields after the catastrophe, which prompted the development of a strategic emergency plan. The important measures adopted as part of the strategy to manage the risk of the environmental disaster and to extinguish and cap Kuwait's oil fires are detailed in this article.

Keywords:

• environmental management
• firefighting operation
• Kuwait oil fires
• strategic plan.