Blast that killed 18,000 cows in West Texas among deadliest barn fires

DIMMITT, Texas — An explosion at a dairy farm in the Texas Panhandle that critically injured one person and killed an estimated 18,000 head of cattle is the deadliest barn fire recorded since the Animal Welfare Institute began tracking the fires. Castro County Sheriff Salvador Rivera has said the Monday fire and explosion at Southfork Dairy Farm near Dimmitt was likely caused by overheated equipment and would be investigated by state fire marshals. “This would be the most deadly fire involving cattle in the past decade, since we started tracking...