TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - At least 18,000 cattle were killed in an explosion and fire at a dairy farm in Texas on Monday, April 10.
KFDA, 13 News’ sister station in Amarillo, Texas, reported it happened at the South Fork Dairy in Dimmitt.
Castro County Sheriff Sal Rivera said the fire from the explosion spread to the building where they haul cattle before bringing them into the milking area and into a holding pen.
“There’s some that survived, there’s some that are probably injured to the point where they’ll have to be destroyed,” Rivera said.
While the Texas State Fire Marshal is investigating the explosion Rivera said he believes it was due to insulation catching fire.
The Animal Welfare Institute said this is the deadliest barn fire for cattle overall and the most devastating barn fire in Texas since the group began tracking barn fires in 2013.
“We hope the industry will remain focused on this issue and strongly encourage farms to adopt commonsense fire safety measures,” said Margie Fishman, Public Relations Manager with AWF. “It is hard to imagine anything worse than being burned alive.”
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is assisting the owner with carcass disposal/debris issues, which could take weeks.
A female employee was injured in the explosion and was in critical condition as of Wednesday, according to KFDA. South Fork Dairy, which employees
With an average dairy cow worth $1,300, the loss for South Fork Dairy is in the tens of millions of dollars, not counting the damaged facility.
Texas is ranked fourth nationally in milk production, according to the Texas Association of Dairymen, and Castro County is second in the state.
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