A huge blaze caused by a suspected methane explosion at a dairy farm in Texas has left 18,000 cattle dead and a worker critically injured.
The Animal Welfare Institute is calling it the deadliest barn fire involving cattle since the agency began tracking barn fires in 2013. The animals were valued around $2,000 each - meaning the total cost of the cattle destroyed was $36 million.
The explosion at the South Fork Dairy in Dimmitt is thought to have been triggered by machinery overheating, causing methane to ignite, although the exact reason has not been confirmed.
'It was lowkey, crazy to hear about because we were just chilling and then we just heard a boom. Then we look in the distance and there’s just a big cloud,' said Renzo Sullivan, a local resident in Dimmit who was speaking to News Channel 10.
Residents went on to say that the blast was completely unexpected while also worrying about the possible after effects on the local economy.
'That’s a lot of the money that we have and then a lot of milk also too. So I think it’s really crazy that that happened,' said Alex Aguilar.
'It is kind of painful because it’s like that’s kind of what we do here, and that’s how we get our money for like the city and all that. So that’s just a major drop for us,' Renzo Sullivan said.
'It employed citizens of our county, and that could impact those citizens, as far as jobs go, it could impact our tax base for our county and other municipalities and taxing entities. They’re going to have to rebuild in order to be able to sustain that portion,' Castro County Judge Mandy Gfeller said.
Despite the uncertainty, the community in Dimmit has already begun to rally around Frank Brand and his family.
Castro Country Sheriff Sal Rivera said the fire spread to the building where they haul cattle in before bringing them into the milking area and then a holding pen, meaning only a small percentage survived.
'There's some that survived, there's some that are probably injured to the point where they'll have to be destroyed,' Sheriff Rivera said.
'It's mind-boggling. I don't think it's ever happened before around here. It's a real tragedy,' Dimmit Mayor Roger Malone said.
Dramatic images from the scene showed a column of black smoke rising from the farm, as well as the devastation left on the ground.
Charred bodies of cows remain and are being dealt with by environmental officers along with the burnt out barn.
'It's mind-boggling,' Dimmitt Mayor Roger Malone said of the number of bovine deaths. 'I don't think it's ever happened before around here. It's a real tragedy.'
Callers said a number of employees were trapped inside, but when first responders arrived they only found only one person in the milking building.
The County Sheriff's office confirmed one person had to be rescued. All of the other employees have been accounted for following earlier reports that some were trapped inside.
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