Cowabunga Explosion

This story didn't make the ripples you might have thought ...... 

South Fork Dairy Barn Explosion

 ..... the deadliest barn fire on record (and almost certainly ever).

It occurred at a giant animal feeding barn in Dimmit, West Texas, USA. It was feeding time at the South Fork Dairy (Yes, the same name as the home of J.R Ewing of Dallas TV fame ... but not the same one!) and  19,000 cows - really, 19,000 cows at one feeding, they really do things bigger in Texas. It was approximately 07:30pm on the 10th of April, 2023, when a giant explosion ripped through the barn, followed a massive plume of smoke that could be seen billowing from miles away.

Emergency calls originally suggested that not only were cattle in the barn but that a number of employees were possibly caught up in it as well. In the event just one woman was injured and she was airlifted to hospital. But of the animals inside the barn at the time, 18,000 were killed in the blast and the subsequent fire that erupted immediately after the explosion ..... the majority died of smoke inhalation while trapped in their holding pens. 

This number was equivalent to around 20% of the cattle slaughtered in the United States on any regular day, and was almost 3% of the dairy cattle population in Texas. Investigations concluded that the explosion was as a result of an accident. An engine fire in a piece of farm equipment that was being used to clean the barn, specifically a 'manure vacuum truck'. 

After the operator was unable to drive the burning truck clear of the barn, he had been unable to put out the fire in the truck using two extinguishers. The fire caused the accumulated methane from the cattle manure and farts to ignite and explode ... the fire spread as it was possible that non-fire-resistant insulation had been used inside the barn.

Animal welfare groups called for more regulation, but as far as I can tell, no further restrictions were introduced to control animal numbers at these types of facilities.