Fire-protection company Bob Andrews Group LLC will hire 25 additional workers in San Antonio with the launch of a new subsidiary that offers emergency-response services for shippers moving crude oil by rail.
The company’s new BAG-Emergency Response Services LLC unit will provide firefighting crews and specialized equipment for the petroleum industry, which increasingly transports crude by train.
Based on early interest, Bob Andrews Group will double the number of employees at its Alamo City headquarters over the next year and hire scores more workers nationwide, Vice President Samuel Goldwater says.
“This new venture is probably going to overshadow everything else we do in terms of size, scope and geography,” he adds.
As activities in U.S. shale plays such as South Texas’ Eagle Ford picks up, energy companies increasingly use rail to deliver crude from oilfield to refinery.
However, regulators and activists have raised safety concerns about the trend, especially in the wake of the July explosion of a crude train in Lac-Megantic Quebec, which left at least 42 people dead.
Goldwater says the new business unit not only addresses the trend but harnesses two of Bob Andrews Group’s core businesses— fire-protection engineering and installing fire systems for rail operators.
“We see this as an ideal fit,” Goldwater adds. “It’s kind of a combination of our rail entities and our fire protection entities.”
— Sanford Nowlin
San Antonio Business Journal