Firefighters have stopped the “forward progress” of a wildfire that sparked Wednesday afternoon in the Salt Lake City foothills near Ensign Peak

The Salt Lake City Fire Department confirmed the Sandhurst 2 Fire, just above Victory Road, around 1:20 p.m.

By 3:45 p.m., some 60 firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze, and it was about half contained, Fire Captain Chad Jepperson said. The department also announced “all forward progress has been stopped,” although a voluntary evacuation notice remained for residents on Columbus Street as the fire was not yet “under control.”

The department asked people to avoid the area, and said some roads, including Victory Road, remained closed.

The National Weather Service issued a “red flag” warning for Salt Lake City and much of the state on Wednesday, as forecasters predicted wind gusts as high as 40 mph and low relative humidity in the afternoon and early evening. Those factors combined create “critical fire weather conditions,” where new or existing fires can spread rapidly.

“We basically expect a fire to happen at those times,” Jepperson said, “and so everyone was alerted of that.”

The warning is set to expire at 10 p.m., and Jepperson said firefighters will stay at the scene throughout the evening to keep the fire contained.

— This story is developing and will be updated.