A devastating fire broke out at the South Fork Dairy farm near Dimmitt, Texas this past week. By the time the fire had been extinguished, the tragedy of the incident was revealed: 18,000 head of cattle had perished in the flames, making it the deadliest farm fire involving cattle in the United States since 2013.
The fire began sometime around 6:00 pm and quickly spread through the holding pens, where thousands of dairy cows were crowded together waiting to be milked and were unable to escape the deadly flames. A dairy farm worker was rescued from inside the structure and was taken to a hospital in critical but stable condition. There were no other human casualties.
The 18,000 cows in the fire represented approximately 90% of the farm’s total herd, and with each cow valued roughly at about $2,000, the company’s losses in livestock could stretch into the tens of millions of dollars. The exact cause of the fire remains unknown, and officials are still investigating.
The incident has gravely impacted the Texas dairy industry, as the state ranks fourth nationally in milk production, with 319 Grade A dairies and an estimated 625,000 cows producing almost 16.5 billion pounds of milk a year. Castro County, where the fire occurred, is the second-highest-producing county in Texas, with 15 dairies yielding 148 million pounds of milk a month.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are teaming up to assist in the cleanup. However, the enormity of the task of cleaning up 18,000 charred carcasses is daunting. In addition to the massive disposal of carcasses, the tragedy has caused an immense economic loss for the company and the dairy industry as a whole.
As officials work to investigate the cause of the fire and clean up the scene, the community of Dimmitt and the rest of Texas remain in shock.
🆘BREAKING:
A dairy farm in Texas blows up killing 18,000 cattle!♦️If you don’t think the United States of America is under attack, and you think hundreds of farm explosions, killing our food supply is just happenstance, you’re not paying attention.
♦️If you think our… pic.twitter.com/radTJM5JdC
— NEWSNANCY (@NineNewsNancy) April 13, 2023
