Massive explosion at Texas dairy farm kills 18,000 cows, farmer critically injured
More than 18,000 cows packed together in holding pens and waiting to be milked were killed in a massive explosion at a dairy farm on the Texas panhandle.
It marked the largest single-incident death of cattle nationwide since the Animal Welfare Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit group, started tracking barn and farm fires 10 years ago, according to USA today. It far surpassed the previous recordset in 2020, when a fire at an upstate New York dairy farm claimed the lives of 400 cows.
A dairy farmer was also critically in the blast at the South Fork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt, officials said Wednesday.
First responders raced to the farm on Monday around 7 p.m. They rescued the trapped worker from the burning dairy building, but could not save the animals trapped inside.
Flames sparked by the blast quickly spread to the building where they keep cattle before bringing them into a holding pen and the milking area, according to officials.
Authorities said more than 18,000 cows were killed.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Dimmitt Mayor Roger Malone said of the bovine deaths. “I don’t think it’s ever happened before around here. It’s a real tragedy.”
Authorities are still working to determine the cause of the explosion. Castro Sheriff Salvador Rivera said investigators suspect it was likely the result of a malfunctioning piece of machinery at the dairy farm that ignited methane gas buildup.
