BASTROP, Texas — Calmer winds should help firefighters battling a wildfire that has destroyed nearly 500 homes in Central Texas.

Texas Forest Service spokeswoman Victoria Koenig says it is too early to say how much progress was made fighting the wildfire overnight, but that there were no winds early today.

Thousands of residents were forced to spend the night away from their threatened homes in Bastrop County, about 25 miles east of Austin.

National Weather Service forecaster Orlando Bermudez says that after winds in the area gusted up to 30 mph on Monday, they dropped overnight to around 5 mph and were only expected to get up to 10 mph by afternoon.

Fanned in part by howling winds from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, the blaze rapidly swallowed at least 25,000 acres Monday.