Fire Marshal: Equipment Failure Killed 18K Cows in Dairy Blast

DIMMITT— The Southfork Dairy Farm explosion that killed 18,000 head of cattle and injured one employee was caused by an engine fire in the manure vacuum truck that was cleaning the barn according to information released by the Fire Marshal.

A worker who was operating the truck noticed what was believed to be steam coming from the engine compartment.

When the driver noticed the fire, he attempted to get the truck out of the barn but couldn’t. He tried to use two fire extinguishers to snuff out the flames but failed to do so.

Last month, the explosion from the dairy farm rocked Dimmitt.