Fire crews battling the Blue Cut fire in San Bernardino County made progress in getting a line around the massive blaze.
It is now 26 percent contained as of Friday morning, according to KPCC in Pasadena. The fire has burned 37,002 acres or more than 50 square miles.
A fire spokesperson told the Associated Press that some of the 1,600 personnel working the blaze will be demobilized Friday afternoon.
A small number of the 82,000 residents under an evacuation order were allowed to return home.
Interstate-15 in the Cajon Pass is back open.
C heck Caltrans District 8 San Bernardino for the latest road conditions.
The fire started as a small brush fire along the freeway Tuesday but it soon morphed into a massive blaze fueled by gusty winds and dry vegetation.
Swift-moving flames gutted a historic Route 66 diner, burned homes to their foundations and forced tens of thousands of people to flee the Cajon Pass.