Five people have been killed in a little more than 4 months. All were hit by trains while driving across the exact same railroad crossing in Rocky Ford. Three were killed on Friday night and the other two were killed this past July.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad Officials say the deadly intersection is out of their hands since the roads don't actually belong to them. In this case the roads belong to Otero County, so BNSF is not allowed to install safety lights or arms without the county's permission.

Railroad Officials say Otero County and the Public Utility Commission's Office finally asked the Federal Government this past Spring to give them money for safety lights and gates, but it'll be some time before it's put in as power lines need to be installed first. BNSF says the project will cost anywhere between $100,000 and $200,000.

The three lives that were claimed on Friday night were 17-year-old Devonna Griffin, she was driving, her 19-year-old sister Krystal Griffin and her 66-year-old grandmother Joan Griffin. All three are of Rocky Ford.

"I heard the smack and then I heard something and then you hear the breaks on the train and right away you know what it is," said Randy Doney who was one of the first people to arrive at the accident scene on Friday. "From what we could tell, there was nobody alive. I looked inside and I saw the lady in the back, looked like she got thrown to the back, and I had to walk away," said Doney.

24-Year-old Adela Herrera was hit by a train while in her car two-years-ago at the very same railroad crossing that has so far killed five people. "It's a sound I won't ever forget. I am so lucky to be alive right now," said Herrera.

Herrera says she had just dropped off her kids when she rolled across the tracks and didn't make it. She says the train slammed into the back of her van. "Five people dead and I could have been one of them. I want to know how many more deaths is there going to be?," said Herrera.

Residents in Rocky Ford say all five deaths have taken a toll on the town. "It really rocks it hard and it's sad because it could have been prevented," said Herrera.

"There's a lot of times you just shoot across without paying attention and when you get across you think, 'oh god, I didn't even look,'" said Doney.

Colorado State Patrol says anytime you drive across railroad tracks please come to a stop and look both ways especially at crossings that don't have arms or lights.

BNSF says they developed a program in 2000 to close as many railroad crossings as possible. They say they provide financial incentives to the city or county, depending on where the tracks cross through, to close the crossing. BNSF says they've closed more than 3,000 crossings in 28 states since the program began.

BNSF says 40% of all crossing fatalities happen at ones with gates and lights.

The crash on Friday is still under investigation by the Colorado State Patrol's Accident Reconstruction Team.