California ? An estimated 250 homes were destroyed and another 300 were threatened after a wind-whipped fire broke out Sunday afternoon near South Lake Tahoe, Calif., authorities said. The fire reportedly scorched 500 acres of mountainous, heavily wooded terrain.

One official said a “couple thousand” people were evacuated in communities around the west side of South Lake Tahoe. They were sent to a recreation center and a middle school in the city.

Winds began to subside late Sunday, lifting the hopes of firefighters who were preparing to make a stand to stop the blaze from entering the city limits.

There were no details about what triggered the fire.

Leona Allen, communications supervisor of the dispatch center for South Lake Tahoe’s fire and police departments, said the fire erupted about 2 p.m.

Allen’s home, and her father’s, were among those destroyed. “This year we knew something was going to hit,” she said, citing the parched terrain. “When you kick in the kind of wind we had today, the fire danger was huge.”