Downtown El Centro fire damages historic civil legal services center named for local leader
For Immediate Release
Downtown El Centro fire damages historic civil legal services center named for local leader
Nonprofit law firm California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. will continue to offer services remotely
September 17, 2026 – El Centro, CA –A fire overnight severely damaged the California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) Lupe Quintero Justice Center located at 449 Broadway Street in El Centro.
Initial reports indicate the fire started Wednesday evening in a nearby building and quickly spread to others in the downtown area. CRLA staff were not present in the building during the fire.
“We are grateful to the City of El Centro Fire Department for putting out the fire and hope no injuries were sustained by occupants of other impacted buildings,” said CRLA President and CEO Jessica Manriquez Jewell. “This fire struck one of CRLA’s most historic buildings and the heart of El Centro’s downtown. It’s a major loss for our neighbors and the entire city.
“CRLA’s Lupe Quintero Justice Center represents a decades-long legacy of relationships, memories, struggles, and victories alongside our clients and the wider Imperial Valley community,” Manriquez Jewell continued. “We are committed to continuing our civil legal services as we rebuild and carry on that legacy.”
CRLA began in 1966 with a mission to provide free civil legal services for people priced out of private legal representation in California’s agricultural areas.
El Centro was one of CRLA’s first locations with Hon. Cruz Reynoso, then a local attorney in private practice, serving as first chairperson of the organization’s board of directors and later its second executive director. Former Imperial County Superior Court Judge Juan Ulloa facilitated the purchase of the Broadway Street building in the late 1970s when he was directing attorney of CRLA’s El Centro office.
In 2021, Brawley native and longtime CRLA Executive Director Jose Padilla oversaw the renaming of the office to the Lupe Quintero Justice Center. Imperial Valley leader Lupe Quintero started as a community worker with CRLA nearly 56 years ago and currently serves as the organization’s statewide director of community engagement.
CRLA's 200+ staff statewide will support remote legal services for Imperial Valley residents while local staff find alternative ways to resume in-person activities. Current clients and community members seeking legal services can continue to contact CRLA at (760) 353-0220.
A previously scheduled gala celebrating CRLA’s 60th anniversary will proceed as planned on December 1, 2026 in El Centro.
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Media Contact
Mia L. Murrietta
Director of Communications, CRLA
(559) 606-1924 | mmurrietta@crla.org
About California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is a nonprofit, anti-poverty law firm that dismantles unjust systems through community lawyering in California’s historically rural areas. We work with people priced out of private legal representation so they can uphold civil rights in housing, employment, health, and public education. Through our 19 Rural Justice Centers and satellite locations, communities can access a broad range of legal tools, including direct legal services, place-based advocacy to expand equity in civic institutions, and specialized litigation to advance civil rights.
