Lake Tahoe Wildfires Wane

Residents awoke to smoke-free skies Friday as officials announced they had turned the corner in fighting a wildfire that has destroyed 254 buildings and threatened thousands more in this resort community.

After a second straight day of mild winds allowed firefighters to surround the blaze, U.S. Forest Service commanders said they planned to reduce their force by one-fourth and allow residents to inspect the wreckage for the first time.

Incident commander Rich Hawkins said he believed authorities had pinpointed the cause of the blaze as accidental but would not announce it until later Friday.

A total of 3,500 people have been evacuated since the fire broke out Sunday. But with the blaze 70 percent contained and the outlook for full containment promising, authorities lifted evacuation orders in some neighborhoods and downgraded mandatory orders to voluntary in others.

Firefighters say they hope to have this fire 100 percent contained by July 3, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.

The amount of land burned held steady at 3,100 acres as of Friday, Hawkins said. With new fires breaking out in other parts of the country, 500 of the more than 2,100 Forest Service personnel working in the Lake Tahoe Basin would be deployed elsewhere, he said.

Anxious residents welcomed the decision to let homeowners back into the burned-out streets about seven miles from the lake where all the destroyed homes are located, even if the visits would be under police escort and limited to an hour.

A few people were so determined to sift through the ashes that they defied the evacuation orders and returned repeatedly on bicycles earlier Thursday. They were arrested for trespassing, El Dorado Sheriff's Deputy Phil Chovanec said.

"They're all obviously emotional," he said. "It's a very tight community."

The home of Che DeVol and his father was destroyed. The two visited a victim-assistance center set up by various agencies at Tahoe Community College, but they have not yet been able to return to the family home of 22 years.

"We haven't been able to have closure," he said.

Fire officials attributed their rising confidence to a break in the weather that kept winds low Thursday. But officials cautioned it still was too early to declare victory, with forecasters saying winds could pick up again Friday and hotspots still smoldering in some areas.

Elsewhere, a wildfire near a gateway to Yellowstone National Park grew to roughly 3,000 acres Thursday, fanned by high temperatures and erratic wind. Evacuation orders were in effect for some resorts near West Yellowstone, Mont. Evacuation orders remained in effect for about 40 summer homes, a resort and campground.

Firefighters on the Hawaiian island of Maui were fighting a blaze late Thursday that burned an estimated 1,400 acres and destroyed at least one house. Several homes near Olowalu, where the fire is believed to have started Wednesday, were ordered evacuated. No injuries were reported.

Also, Crews in southern Arizona are still working to contain a lightning-caused fire in the Santa Rita Mountains, seven miles northwest of Patagonia.

The 620-acre Mansfield fire, which erupted Wednesday afternoon, is currently 25 percent contained. No structures are threatened.

The steep, mountainous terrain is forcing crews to fly in to fight the fire. A Coronado National Forest spokeswoman says the fire is benefiting the natural resources in the area.