Four unhoused men from Salinas are killed in a truck crash, leaving friends at a loss.

They were four men from the streets of Salinas’ Chinatown, helping someone move on Friday, Aug. 26, using a truck rented from Home Depot. The truck full of furniture was traveling east on Blanco Road after leaving Marina just before 3pm, heading toward Salinas. For reasons still unknown, the truck veered to the right and crashed into a traffic light pole at Blanco and Research Drive. It burst into flames and all four men perished, according to a California Highway Patrol spokesperson.

The CHP was not releasing information on the four men as of the Weekly’s deadline on Aug. 30, pending notifications of next of kin. Yet everyone in Chinatown, where hundreds of people without homes live, already knew who the men were, not long after learning of the accident on Friday evening. The men were residents of their community who were quick to help neighbors anyway they could.

David Balch, who runs Closer Walk, an organization that provides aid and food for unsheltered people, grew close with one of the men, Ron. “I knew [him] very, very, very well. I spoke to him 20 to 30 minutes a day. He was a very good friend of mine,” Balch says. “He was a great guy who could not fix his addiction. He had issues with authority, but when you got underneath that he had an absolute heart of gold.”

Rita Acosta, a former resident of the streets, says Ron always helped her, cleaning out trash, bringing her meat from food distributions and helping her cook. “Out here it’s like family,” she says. Acosta now lives in Moongate Plaza, affordable housing with supportive services in Chinatown. She works for the city on its homeless outreach team.

The nonprofit organizations that serve the Chinatown community are planning a memorial service for the four men at 4pm on Saturday, Sept. 10, in the parking lot of Closer Walk, located at 22 Soledad St. in Salinas.