An explosion killed 18,000 cattle and injured an agricultural worker at a dairy farm in Texas, according to local authorities on Thursday.

The fire caused by the explosion burnt down the Southfork Dairy Farms located near the town of Dimmitt in the Texas Panhandle on Monday night.

After arriving on the site in a hurry, firefighters and law enforcement officers "determined that one person was trapped inside," the Castro County Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook.

The individual was rescued and transported by air to a hospital in Lubbock.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said, “This was the deadliest barn fire for cattle in Texas history and the investigation and cleanup may take some time.”

The cause of the explosion remains unknown as the Commissioner stated, “Once we know the cause and the facts surrounding this tragedy, we will make sure the public is fully informed.”

Miller hoped that by revealing the causes of the blast “tragedies like this can be avoided in the future.”

This tragic incident is the deadliest barn fire involving cattle since at least 2013, when AWI first began tracking #barnfires. Farms must do more to protect animals by adopting commonsense fire safety measures. https://t.co/e7gnmZqbcy

— Animal Welfare Institute (@AWIOnline) April 13, 2023

Sal Rivera, Castro County Sheriff, told CBS that an “overheated” system that disposes of the cattle manure might have been the cause of the horrific event.

Supposedly  the methane that cows produce “ignited and then spread out with the explosion and the fire.”

The County Sheriff's verdict remains a theory until further investigations to determine the actual cause are conducted.

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