Some 18 000 cows died and a worker was seriously injured in a fire on a Texas dairy farm, 10th April 2023. The fire may have started in a slurry pumping machine, possibly leading to an explosion of methane gas released from manure. This is the deadliest “barn fire” since US data collection started in 2013. Nearly a million farm animals per year die in fires in the USA, but these are mostly chickens. Safe regulatory disposal of the bovine remains will be a significant problem. Fire Safety & Technical Bulletin (April 2023) suggests that fire risks in US farms could be mitigated if states were to adopt the NFPA 150 Fire and Life Safety in Animal Housing Facilities Code,
“Texas dairy farm explosion kills 18,000 cows”, BBC 13 April 2023 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65258108