Texas: As many as 18,000 cows were killed after a massive explosion and fire erupted at a dairy farm in West Texas, becoming the largest known single-incident death of cattle. The fire began after a blast at the South Fork Dairy farm in Dimmitt in Texas on Monday, reported the British online newspaper The Independent.
The huge clouds of black smoke filled the sky above the dairy farm for hours. However, there were no human casualties, but one dairy farm worker was rescued and taken to the hospital. As of Tuesday, the worker was in critical condition but is now stable.
90% of farm’s cows died
The aftermath of the tragic fire revealed that a staggering 18,000 cattle died, which is nearly three times the amount of cows slaughtered each day in the US. The cows that died in the fire were a mix of Holstein and Jersey cows. Approximately 90 per cent of the farm’s total herd were killed in the massive explosion.
Texas fire officials to investigating
The cause of the explosion is unclear but County Judge Mandy Gfeller hypothesized that it could have been a malfunction in a piece of equipment. Texas fire officials will be investigating the cause, The Independent reported citing USA Today. The cows were huddled together in a holding pen, waiting to be milked, when the explosion occurred. The loss of livestock will have a large financial impact on the farm as each cow is “roughly” valued at USD 2,000 The Independent reported citing USA Today.
Locals said they heard a loud boom and could see massive pillars of smoke for miles, The Independent reported citing KFDA News Channel 10. The black smoke could be seen for miles, even from surrounding towns. “It was crazy,” Kennedy Cleraman, a Dimmitt resident, told KFDA. “There was a big, massive, black air and it looked like fog in the street. And it was all burnt- the place.”
South Fork Dairy Farm is located in Castro County which is one of the highest dairy-producing counties in Texas. Castro County has more than 30,000 cattle in it, according to Texas’ 2021 Annual Dairy Review. The incident is the largest single-incident death of cattle since the Animal Welfare Institute, an animal advocacy organisation, began tracking barn fires in 2013.