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UPDATE: Fire officials report the fire is still sitting at 2,000 acres and no structures have been lost.

Sheriff Leo Dutton opened up Stemple Pass Road to residents, warning them they needed to be ready to leave on a five minute notice. According to Sheriff's Deputy, Uriah Wood, about 20 residents drove in to check their homes and property and most all came back out within an hour.

Crews are focusing their efforts on air attack, using helicopters to drop foam retardant on hot spots.

Dutton says the terrain is so steep it makes the use of hand crews difficult.

Incident management ordered 240 fire fighting personnel for Friday.

At 8 pm on Friday, a type 2 incident management team will take over, bringing extensive resources and experience. Incident management teams are given a rank 1 to 5. "1" representing a team that possesses the most skill and resources.

When the type 2 team takes over at 8 pm on Friday, there will be a public meeting held at the Canyon Creek School.

There will be more updates coming soon.

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(Friday morning) The Davis Fire burning northwest of Helena shrunk to about 2,000 acres over night.

Stemple Pass remains open to residents only; officials have scheduled a public meeting for area residents at 8:00 pm on Friday evening at Canyon Creek School to update them on the situation.

No injuries have been reported, and no structures or livestock have been lost, but grass lands have been destroyed.

Officials report that the Davis Fire is the number one priority fire in Montana, and number five in the nation.

(Thursday night) The Davis Fire burning just northwest of Helena on Stemple Pass is now estimated at 2,800 acres and is threatening almost two dozen homes.

On Thursday evening, fire officials held a town hall meeting to explain the situation. Forest Service Ranger Amber Kamps told the residents that when Forest Service officials began the prescribed burn on Wednesday, the weather was good.

Kamps said, "I can not tell you how sorry I am that we have to meet under these conditions. That you are having to go through this. I can't make it up to you. I can just tell you I am sorry and we will do the best we can from this point forward."

Over 65 people are working on the fire. They will slow down containment at midnight.

Officials have ordered 12 twenty-person hand crews for Friday, as well as five engines, six helicopters and several pieces of logging equipment.

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(First Report, 3:28 pm) A controlled burn got out of hand in the Helena National Forest south of Stemple Pass on Thursday afternoon.

The wildfire, which is located entirely on U.S. Forest Service land, has currently burned approximately 100 acres and evacuation orders have been issued for Stemple Pass Road from the Continental Divide down the highway.

KXLH reporter Marnee Banks reports that there are two air tankers and two helicopters currently battling the blaze, and three more choppers are en route.

Lewis & Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton is currently at the Canyon Creek Fire Station monitoring the situation as an incident management team is assembled and dispatched to the scene of the fire.

The fire started as a prescribed burn on Marsh Creek Road between Stemple Pass and Granite Butte Lookout.

Weather conditions have been ripe for fire for the last 24 hours; the National Weather Service had issued a Red Flag Warning for a high risk of fire due to the hot, dry conditions in the area on Wednesday and Thursday.