MEYERS, Calif. (AP) -- The overnight weather has helped firefighters battling a big blaze near Lake Tahoe. Winds calmed down and temperatures dipped into the 30s.

A U-S Forest Service spokesman says the incident commander is "feeling very good."

The wind-driven fire burned out of control yesterday, destroying at least 165 structures and forcing about one-thousand people to evacuate their homes.

Fire officials warned of a potentially active wildfire season in the Sierra Nevada following an unusually dry winter. As of May first, the snowpack in the around the Tahoe area was just 29 percent of normal levels.

Investigators blame the fire on "human activity."

A large fire is burning in Alaska, too. Crews are working to protect hundreds of homes tucked in the Kenai Peninsula, where flames have destroyed dozens of homes and cabins.