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Lancaster County family grieving the loss of two children want a change at the intersection where they died

Brandie Kasper, 21, and her brother, Lenny, 18, died in a car crash in East Petersburg. Their family believes a longer delay at the stoplight would have saved them

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A family in Lancaster County is heartbroken and says they want answers.

The Kaspers of Mount Joy are grieving the loss of two of their children.

Brandie Kasper, 21, and her younger brother, Lenny, 18, died in a fiery car crash in East Petersburg over the weekend.

The family says the crash happened around 9 p.m. Saturday night at the intersection of Route 72 and Graystone Road when a tractor trailer struck Lenny's pickup truck.

Neighbors in the area can smell the lingering scent of fire which family says erupted during the crash.

A sign, the sidewalk, flowers, and plants in the area near the scene are charred from the flames.

Flowers have been placed along the sidewalk for the two siblings, who the family says were best friends. The entire family is grieving the loss of the children.

FOX43 spoke with neighbors in the area who say they frequently see tractor trailers and trailers hauling vehicles go through the intersection at what they believe is a high rate of speed. 

They say they go through the intersection even after the light has turned red because they don't believe they have time to stop.

The Kasper family says they want something done about it. They're anxiously awaiting the investigation being done by Northern Lancaster County Regional Police. 

FOX43 called the lead investigator but has yet to hear back from the officer.

Specifically, Len and Kathy Kasper want to add a longer delay to the traffic light.

PennDOT officials say the light has a delay of four seconds on yellow and two on red. Per federal standards set for lights, they say that's what it must be.

Lenny was set to graduate from Hempfield High School in just a few days. 

The family says Brandie was going to be proposed to this week. 

They describe them as amazing kids who would do anything for their family.

Tragically, Len says the two went a different way home than the rest of the family Saturday night. Brandie wanted to avoid main roads so she took a back route.

"I need to know what happened to my babies that night because I can't walk through the rest of my life just wondering 'why, how, what happened?'" explained Len.

Len and Kathy are anxiously awaiting the results of the police investigation.

"I keep putting myself in the cab of the pickup truck that night, and I can't imagine what those poor kids went through, and we're doing a lot of blaming, 'like we should've did something different," the couple said.

Before the crash, the family spent Saturday working together. They cleared out a home. They planned to go to their home, have some ice cream, and watch a movie.

"We always talked how this dining room was not big enough because we're going to have all these grandkids and these spouses, and I could always picture me and my beautiful wife sitting here with grandkids running around. It's not going to happen now. Your entire future in a second... 'poof,"" said Len.

"I looked at the wreckage, and I thought 'those poor people.' I hope they passed away on impact as opposed to the fire," said Jim Arnold, who lives next to the intersection.

During the wreck, Arnold had his home, plants, and sidewalk scorched from the flames. Over the years, he says he witnessed some scary things. One time, he said a truck went through his front yard.

"The yellow light is not long enough, and they just go right through the red light," said Arnold.

"I want to leave this in the proper authorities' hands to find out what happened to our children. Of course, we're doing our own due diligence. All day long it's what I'm doing anymore," explained Len.

Thursday evening, Len and Kathy planned to visit the intersection.

They've created a petition to make change; they have more than 800 signatures so far.

They're also trying to raise money to add in additional signage to alert drivers of the changing light.

RELATED: Crash between pickup truck and tractor-trailer leaves 2 dead in East Petersburg

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