Over 18,000 cows die in explosion at Texas farm: Deadliest barn fire in US

Texas Farm Fire: The farm is based in one of the state's biggest milk production counties, Reuters reported.

More than 18,000 cows died in an explosion which was followed by a fire at a family dairy farm in Texas, news agency Reuters reported. The cause of the fire was not known, officials said as firefighters rescued one employee from the farm. The incident took place South Fork Dairy near Dimmitt, according to the Castro County Sheriff's Office.

Texas Farm Fire: Smoke rises at the Southfork Dairy Farms, after an explosion and a fire killed around 18,000 cows, near Dimmitt, Texas. (Reuters)

The farm is based in one of the state's biggest milk production counties, Reuters reported. Following the blaze, Animal Welfare Institute which is one of the oldest US animal protection groups called for federal laws and intervention to prevent barn fires.

"This would be the most deadly fire involving cattle in the past decade, since we started tracking that in 2013," spokesperson Marjorie Fishman said.

Currently, there are no federal regulations protecting animals from the fires, A few US states have adopted individual protection code. Texas is not among them.

Around 6.5 million farm animals have died in such fires in the past ten years, Reuters reported.