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More than 165 homes were destroyed and as many as 500 more were threatened after a wind-whipped wildfire broke out Sunday afternoon just outside of South Lake Tahoe.

By late Sunday evening the fast-moving fire was threatening the western boundary of the city and had burned 750 acres or more of heavily wooded, parched terrain just west and south of the city. The unincorporated area is between U.S. 50 and the popular Fallen Leaf Lake below the slopes of Mount Tallac.

At least 1,000 people were evacuated from communities near the fire. Some residents went to two evacuation centers in South Lake Tahoe, while others went to the homes of friends and the many hotels in the area. No injuries were reported. The burned homes are in the Mule Deer Road, Mount Raineer, Clear View and Lake Tahoe Boulevard areas.

It was not clear how the fire started, but there were no thunderstorms or lightning reported at the lake on Sunday. Snowfall this past winter was well below average. Most of the land surrounding South Lake Tahoe is in the U.S. Forest Service's Tahoe Basin Management Unit, which is heavily covered by pine forests.