Holtville Fire Chief Alex Silva (left) and Imperial County Fire Battalion Chief Angel Morales are pictured next to a Holtville Fire brush truck and county fire vehicle. The brush truck was used to help fight the Mendocino Complex Wildfire. Brush trucks have become a critical tool to reaching rugged terrain in the battle to stop raging brush fires.

When two Northern California wildfires joined to become a massive inferno known as the Mendocino Complex Fire, the largest wildfire in California’s history, thousands of firefighters from throughout the state joined in the fight to stop the blaze and protect human life and property.

Firefighters from the Imperial Valley were among them.

For more than a month, Valley firefighters have joined crews from throughout California—and even international crews—to slow a wildfire that has scorched more than 450,000 acres

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Dr. David Breeckner, Executive Director of the Imperial Valley Desert Museum, is pictured in front of a collection of pottery and other artifacts from the native cultures that have resided in the Yuha Desert for some 10,000 years. The museum, located off Interstate 8 in Ocotillo, is open to the public 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. For more information about the museum, see its website, www.ivdesertmuseum.org or call 760.358.7016.

In the far western corner of the Imperial Valley, nestled among the wild Ocotillo plants and rugged desert landscape, is a towering bronze sculpture known as the “Spirit of the Desert” depicting the native cultures of the Yuha Desert.

The sculpture welcomes visitors to the Imperial Valley Desert Museum, a modern interactive museum in the heart of the desert that tells the story

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Youth take part in a boxing class organized by the El Centro Police Activities League, which for 24 years has been providing programs for youth, not only from El Centro but the entire Imperial Valley.

Antonio Cornejo and his younger brother Esteban grew up in El Centro. As teens, they found their way to the Police Activities League as a way to get involved in sports they may not have had access to without the program. Back in 2003, the two teenage brothers found their focus in PAL martial arts classes. “We were born and raised here and grew up in humble beginnings,” said Antonio, who is now 32 years old. “This was the place where we could come, and it turned out to be the best thing for us.”

The Cornejo brothers point to the importance of the El

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