Firefighters gain ground on Turner Fire in Boundary County

Firefighters pushed the Turner Fire to 66% containment at 680 acres by July 20, but the Boundary County blaze still carried the legacy of 40 to 45 mph winds, evacuations and a fast jump from zero containment in its first days.

The fire was first reported the evening of July 15 about 5 miles south of Copeland, Idaho, and it quickly forced roughly 100 homes to evacuate. Later reports said about 250 residents were displaced under mandatory evacuation, with hundreds more ready to leave if conditions worsened.

Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 1 took command of both the Turner Fire and the Upper Smith Fire at 6:00 a.m. on July 16, a shift that put the two incidents under a larger and more formal response structure. Deputy Incident Commander Mark Goeller said Northern Rockies Team 1 had assumed command of both fires, and Bea Day was identified as incident commander in later Turner Fire updates.

The containment numbers show how quickly the situation changed. By July 17, the Turner Fire had grown to about 593 acres and was still 0% contained. On July 18, it had reached 676 acres and 47% containment, and by July 20 it had edged up to 680 acres and 66% contained. A Bonner County Daily Bee update put the fire at 43% contained two days after it was first reported, underscoring how fast the incident was evolving during the first stretch of the response.

The Upper Smith Fire added pressure to the same regional operation. That lightning-caused fire, burning about 20 miles from Bonners Ferry near the Canadian border, measured 567 acres on July 15, 598 acres on July 16, 748 acres on July 19 and 815 acres on July 20. A July 16 update said about 10 structures were encompassed by sprinkler lines, and the fire was described as burning in extremely steep and rugged terrain on a north aspect. By July 20, 347 personnel were assigned there.

Evacuation orders were later downgraded for the Turner Fire, a sign that crews had gained real ground. Even so, the fire remained active enough to keep both Boundary County incidents under Northern Rockies Team 1, and the early wind-driven spread left little room for residents to assume the danger was gone. Full relief will depend on containment holding through changing weather and on crews keeping both fires from regaining the upper hand.