Burbank neighbors terrified as homes constantly threatened by dangerous intersection

Vivian Chow
·2 min read
12

Residents in a Burbank neighborhood remain frightened by a dangerous intersection that has been the source of crashes for decades.

The most recent crash was captured on home security video as a car slammed into a home after failing a turn.

Instead of turning from Vanowen Street into Buena Vista Street, the car drives straight into the garage of Regina Reyes’ home.

“We just left the house a few minutes before because I wanted to go to the store to return something,” Reyes said, in shock the crash happened so suddenly.

Reyes’ next-door neighbor, Mauricio Morales, recalls being startled by the loud crash.

“I was in the back [of my home] and then I heard, ‘Boom!’” he said.

  • A vehicle crashed into a Burbank home on Vanowen Street. It's a problem that has plaguing the neighborhood for decades. (KTLA)
    A vehicle crashed into a Burbank home on Vanowen Street. It’s a problem that has plaguing the neighborhood for decades. (KTLA)
  • A vehicle crashed into a Burbank home on Vanowen Street. It's a problem that has plaguing the neighborhood for decades. (KTLA)
    A vehicle crashed into a Burbank home on Vanowen Street. It’s a problem that has plaguing the neighborhood for decades. (KTLA)
  • A pink house on the corner of Vanowen and Buena Vista Streets that neighbors say is the most accident-prone house in the county. (KTLA)
    A pink house on the corner of Vanowen and Buena Vista Streets that neighbors say is the most accident-prone house in the county. (KTLA)
  • The dangerous intersection of Vanowen and Buena Vista Streets in Burbank that neighbors want solutions for. (KTLA)
    The dangerous intersection of Vanowen and Buena Vista Streets in Burbank that neighbors want solutions for. (KTLA)
  • A vehicle crashed into a Burbank home on Vanowen Street. It's a problem that has plaguing the neighborhood for decades. (KTLA)
    A vehicle crashed into a Burbank home on Vanowen Street. It’s a problem that has plaguing the neighborhood for decades. (KTLA)
  • The dangerous intersection of Vanowen and Buena Vista Streets in Burbank that neighbors want solutions for.
    The dangerous intersection of Vanowen and Buena Vista Streets in Burbank that neighbors want solutions for. (Google Earth)

The home security camera of another neighbor, Michael Castro, captured the destructive crash as well.

“My camera caught a scream and then it hit the garage,” Castro said.

Reyes said she’s thankful neither her family nor the drivers involved were seriously injured in the crash, but said she and others are frustrated with the constant threat of reckless drivers in the area.

Her neighbor’s family, the Castros, have lived in their home since the 1950s. Castro said throughout the decades, drivers on Vanowen Street constantly drive while drunk and speed recklessly, endangering the row of homes nearby.

Neighbors said a pink house located at 1838 Buena Vista Street is known as the most accident-prone house in the county.

News articles dating back to the 1960s show the pink home was hit dozens of times in the past and at one point, the owners proposed the home be bought by the city council, citing the property as unsafe to inhabit.

“A lot of accidents at the corner house when I was growing up, during the summertime, at about 1 or 2 ‘o clock in the morning when there was a large crash, everyone knew to walk to the corner [pink] house,” Castro said.

Over the years, Burbank city officials have installed dividers and barricades to protect the homes but residents said it’s not enough and more needs to be done.

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