Myron M. Kinley was a pioneer in fighting oil well fires and blowouts. He developed many patents and designs for the tools and techniques of oil firefighting. His father, Karl T. Kinley, attempted to extinguish an oil well fire with the help of a massive explosion—a method still in common use for fighting oil fires. Myron and Karl Kinley first successfully used explosives to extinguish an oil well fire in 1913. Kinley would later form the M. M. Kinley Company in 1923. Asger "Boots" Hansen and Edward Owen "Coots" Matthews also begin their careers under Kinley.