SONOMA (CBS SF) -- A brush fire burning near downtown Sonoma early Wednesday evening forced some limited evacuations, but authorities say forward spread has been stopped.

Sonoma County issued an alert shortly after 4:30 p.m. regarding a vegetation fire near 1st Street West and Norrbom Road in Sonoma by the Ernest Holeman Memorial Dog Park.

Sonoma Police began a precautionary local evacuation of the surrounding park area after the fire was reported.

The Sonoma County Sheriff tweeted that about a dozen homes had been evacuated.

Fire crews were reporting that the fire -- being referred to as the Dream Fire -- was at about 3-5 acres with a moderate rate of spread.

Cal Fire air support has been called in, with air tankers making fire-retardant drops and helicopters delivering water to the area.

As of around 5:40 p.m., authorities were saying that the forward spread of the fire had been halted.

Shortly before 6:30 p.m., the Sonoma County Sheriff tweeted that the evacuations would remain in place for at least a few hours while firefighters continued to work, but no additional evacuations would be necessary.