‘Happens very often’: Residents after 3 kids die in crash near Ripperdan

RIPPERDAN, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A six-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl were killed after a van ran a stop sign and crashed into a big rig Saturday evening. There’s a lot of shock and sadness from folks in Ripperdan. In fact, most already knew the news.

“I was home watching the television and the news report came out and you know, it’s a sad thing to see. Family members lose their life like that. That always makes you pretty sad,” Firebaugh resident David Melendez said.

Three kids ages 6, 15 and 17 were killed after a big rig crashed into a van that ran a stop sign Saturday night.

“Honestly, a lot of accidents happen here and tragic ones too. If you drive down the roads, you see a lot of crosses. So it happens very often,” Melendez admitted.

The news of the crash is circling the small community of Ripperdan. Melendez said more law enforcement is needed in the area. 

“Sometimes, there’s careless drivers. People don’t really pay attention or are just in a rush to get home. So I think a lack of police officers, patrols I mean, has people being more careless when they drive,” Melendez said.

At the sight of the crash lie three balloons, flowers, and a stuffed animal. Cars continue zipping through Road 24 and Avenue 7, where Melendez says upgrades are needed.  

“The signs and then the paint too. On the road, the road paints. You can’t really see it’s not really visible,” Melendez said.

But another local said dangerous drivers are the problem. 

“If you can hear these sounds [of honking], you could see these sounds; it’d make perfect sense. You would know exactly what I’m talking about. People don’t care,” said Miclo, a resident who lives in the area.

Miclo said dangerous driving in that area is common.  

“People run these. I mean, if you’re if you’re local to the area and you know the Friant entrance, for instance, or the Friant four-way, there’s literally an Instagram page dedicated to people that run that light,” Miclo said.

CHP said neither drugs nor alcohol are a factor in this crash.