Explosion At Texas Farm Kills 18,000 Dairy Cows, Critically Injures Worker

On Monday Southfork Dairy Farm in Dimmitt, Texas, suffered a large explosion and fire that critically injured a staff member, while also destroying an estimated 18,000 dairy cows in the blaze.

Castro County Sheriff, Sal Rivera, told Channel News 10,

Your count probably is close to that. There’s some that survived, there’s some that are probably injured to the point where they’ll have to be destroyed.

The farm managed roughly 20,000 cows in total, according to Farmers Weekly.

The fire reportedly spread quickly to the cow’s holding cells and staff were unable to get there in time to release them, trapping the cattle in their stalls to be burned. The rest of the cattle have been moved to another facility for the time being, says Ag Daily.

The explosion and fire was so loud it rattled nearby homes, and the plume cloud be seen approximately 30 miles away.