The explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle is officially being called the “most deadly fire involving cattle” on record, with one person injured and 18,000 cattle dead from the ensuing fire.
Officials now confirm that 18,000 cattle were killed – about 20% of the total number slaughtered each day – after an explosion sparked a deadly fire that quickly spread to an area where thousands of dairy cows were crowded together, waiting to be milked on Monday.
One dairy worker was left trapped inside a farm facility, but was safely rescued by a fire crew.
Animal Welfare Institute spokesperson Marjorie Fishman confirmed today that “This would be the most deadly fire involving cattle in the past decade, since we started tracking that in 2013,” according to the Associated Press.
JUST IN: 18,000 cows are now dead due to an explosion in Dimmitt, Texas.
Honest question: How does a dairy farm have an explosion so large that it kills 18,000 cows?pic.twitter.com/cQ66IYH3la
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 12, 2023
The Mayor of Dimmitt – a small town with less than 5,000 residents – described the tragedy as “mind-boggling” to USA Today. “I don’t think it’s ever happened before around here. It’s a real tragedy.”
Another representative for the Animal Welfare Institute, Ali Granger, told that publication the Texas fire “is the deadliest fire involving cattle we know of.” She noted that, “In the past, we have seen fires involving several hundred cows at a time, but nothing anything near this level of mortality.”
Dimmitt Texas 🇺🇲 Huge Explosion and blaze at a Dairy Farm….18000 plus Cattle Dead, it seems like someone is targetting the Food Supply. Or It could be just, Another 𝙐𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KcApgKXs7u
— 𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙇𝘽𝙊𝙐𝙍𝙉𝙀 (@Risemelbourne) April 13, 2023
Considering the animals, Granger told CBS News, “It is hard to imagine anything worse than being burned alive.” She added, “We hope the industry will remain focused on this issue and strongly encourage farms to adopt common-sense fire safety measures.”
While the investigation into the source of the inferno is ongoing, Castro County Judge Mandy Gfeller acknowledged that malfunctioning farm equipment “may have caused an explosion that led to the fire,” per USA Today.
Castro County Sheriff Salvador Rivera reiterated this theory to the Associated Press, and noted that Texas fire marshals would examine the debris to make an official conclusion.
