BLOG: Burned Alive: Thousands of Cows Burn to Death as Fuel for Flawed Factory Farming System
“There ain’t no saving those cows,” — Truck driver passing by South Fork Dairy on April 10, 2023, the night when a massive fire swallowed the dairy, killing nearly 18,000 cows.
November 6, 2023
By Jinhua Zhang, Legal Intern (2L - University of Texas School of Law)
The deadliest dairy barn fire
Using public records law, Animal Partisan has uncovered documents, unseen videos and photos of the aftermath of a massive fire that consumed an industrial dairy in April 2023. According to information obtained from the Texas State Fire Marshal’s Office, the fire started in the engine compartment of a manure vacuum truck. A manure vacuum truck is vehicle designed to clean up and transport animal manure. It is commonly used in large-scale factory farms because thousands of animals packed in close confines produce massive amounts of manure daily. The exact reason for the fire was unknown, but another truck at the farm with the same make and model had previously burned—in essence, the alarm had rung, but was not heard. The fire was classified by the Texas State Fire Marshal as accidental and the case was soon closed.
The thousands of cows exploited for dairy at the farm were doomed when the fire started. The fire started shortly after 7 pm on April 10, but due to “the very limited visibility due to darkness, live injured cattle wandering about, and the perceived threat of a possible structural collapse,” there was no attempt by officials to enter and rescue the cows until “the following day during daylight hours,” according to the Fire Marshal’s report. Because of the fire, the majority of the cows were either dead or injured so seriously that they needed to be euthanized.
When the Fire Marshal investigated the cause of the fire, it focused on figuring out the source of the spark. However, it ignored the fundamental role that the intense confinement of thousands upon thousands of animals plays in these tragedies. By design, factory farms profit by housing thousands of animals in a restricted space in order to maximize productivity and profit. This confinement not only subjects animals to stress and discomfort, but it also puts them at substantial risks of fires and explosions. With thousands of animals in extremely close proximity, the buildup of manure and heat becomes a ticking time bomb. Further, the confinement of animals severely impedes their ability to flee dangerous situations and makes evacuation almost always impossible. Sadly, the official fire investigation makes no mention of the role played by this intense confinement.
Photo source: Texas Department of Insurance - State Fire Marshal’s Office
“Modernizing” factory farms is not the solution
South Fork Dairy was a massive industrial dairy farm, with a structure occupying around 2 million square feet and housing nearly 18,000 dairy cows. According to the Fire Marshal’s report, “the design of the dairy created a more climate controlled, healthier and cleaner environment than the traditional dairy where the cattle spend their lives outside and then move into a building for milking,” and “this design obviously removed heat on the hot days, but also served the purpose of removing the gases from the normal excrement and urine of the cattle.” Sadly, even with this allegedly “improved” design—where cows lived a very unnatural existence indoors—the barn fire still occurred. “Modernizing” factory farms is clearly not a solution and only serves to cause more animal suffering.
This is not the first and certainly won’t the last factory farm fire
According to the Animal Welfare Institute, the South Fork Dairy fire is the deadliest barn fire involving cattle recorded in the United States since the nonprofit began tracking barn fires in 2013. The South Fork Dairy fire and the number of cows killed are astonishing, but the deaths of nearly 18,000 cows did nothing to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the months that followed:
On May 12, 2023, a poultry barn fire in Ohio killed around 20,000 chickens.
On July 12, 2023, a barn fire in Indiana believed to have been caused by electrical issues killed 1,200 pigs.
On October 1, 2023, an early-morning fire at a Cal-Maine egg facility in Kentucky killed 100,000 birds and required 15 agencies over 12 hours to extinguish.
Fires are not the only risk to animals in the factory farming system
Barn fires are only one of the numerous life-threatening risks faced by factory farmed animals. Large-scale factory farming is the root cause of host of issues ranging from the mistreatment of animals to the contamination of water, air, and soil.
For instance, the long-term ramifications of factory farms on our water systems are profound. A single factory farm can house thousands of animals, producing an astonishing amount of waste—the same amount as an entire town or even a large city. While the sheer volume is a concern, the nature of the waste adds to the problem. It is filled with not just feces and urine but also hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals used in industrial farming. When this waste is improperly managed, which happens all too frequently, it can leak, spill, or run off into waterways and directly threaten human health.
Another problem is the air pollution created by factory farming. Air pollution isn't just about smoggy days in big cities or the plumes of smoke from car exhausts. In fact, one significant source is often overlooked: the factory farming of livestock. The vast majority of deaths linked to fine-particle pollution from agriculture can be traced back to factory farms. But how does this happen? Factory farms produce enormous amounts of manure, which emits harmful pollutants like ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and methane into the air. When combined with other pollutants, ammonia forms fine particulate matter, tiny particles that can be inhaled deeply into the lungs, leading to serious health problems.
More recently, a new problem has been hotly debated—the use of biogas from factory farms. Biogas is a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and other trace gases. There has been growing attention to factory farm biogas projects, often touted as sustainable solutions to our energy needs. At a glance, turning animal waste into energy might seem like an eco-friendly idea, and it has garnered significant government support in the form of subsidies and incentives. However, beneath the surface, there are serious concerns with this approach, including fires, explosions, hydrogen sulfide poisoning, methane leaks. First, biogas is toxic. A leakage of biogas can lead to air pollution or even poison people. Second, biogas projects could potentially be used by energy companies to obtain additional pipeline subsidy funds and to greenwash their products and brands as “sustainable solutions.” Moreover, with factory farms already full of hazardous and sometimes malfunctioning equipment, flammable liquids, and dangerous manure management practices, the use of methane digesters and the massive capture of the flammable gas substantially increases the risks of fire and explosions like the one that killed nearly 18,000 cows at South Fork Dairy.
Smaller scale animal agriculture is not the solution
Even family dairy farms, which are believed to be “animal friendly,” are far from cruelty-free. In order to maintain a constant supply of milk, dairy cows are subjected to a cycle of forced impregnations. After enduring the physical and emotional toll of pregnancy, these cows face the heart-wrenching experience of having their newborn calves taken away almost immediately after birth. This is done to ensure that the milk, naturally intended for the calf, is instead redirected for human consumption. In human healthcare, there's a significant emphasis placed on the “skin-to-skin” practice post-birth which fosters a bond between mother and child and is recognized for its crucial emotional and physiological benefits. Contrastingly, in the dairy industry, calves are forcibly removed from their mothers and placed in isolation, denying both the mother and calf this essential bonding experience. This practice not only robs the calves of the nourishing milk naturally intended for them but also subjects mother cows to a profound emotional trauma. Denied the basic maternal right to nurse their young, these cows often display signs of distress, calling out for their lost offspring. Moreover, the continuous cycle of milking leads to physical ailments, including painful infections and diseases in their udders.
What is the solution?
The factory farming system and many animal agriculture practices in general cause cruelty, pollution, and threats to animal and human health every single day. So, what can we do to help? First, start by educating yourself on the issues—knowledge is the first step to advocacy. Second, consider adopting a plant-based diet or at a minimum, reducing animal product consumption. Third, use your voice to speak out for animals: engage in meaningful discussions, write to your local representatives (including asking them to pass laws protecting animals from barn fires), attend local rallies or workshops that focus on the impacts of factory farming, or support organizations working to end factory farming. By making informed choices, spreading awareness, and actively advocating for change, each of us can contribute to a world where animals are treated with the respect and compassion they deserve, and where sustainable and ethical food systems are the norm, not the exception.