All residents were allowed to return to their homes as firefighters gained control of a wind-driven fire burning for days west of Murrieta.
Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted at about 8 a.m. for about 570 homes in range of the Tanaja Fire. Overnight, crews increased containment on the nearly 2,000-acre fire to 20 percent.
Residents in Montanya Place, Bonita Place, Belcara Place, Lone Oak Way, streets south of Calle del Oso Oro, Trails Circle, Bear Creek and Copper Canyon remained under voluntary evacuation warnings, and Riverside County Fire reminded residents they should be prepared to leave at a moment's notice.
Crews were expecting a windshift around noon Friday that could cause the fire to change paths, Cal Fire Division Chief Todd Hopkins said. Strong winds in the evening could cause the fire to run down hills or cause embers to blow past containment lines. Sudden thunderstorms could make the fire "erratic," Hopkins explained.
On Thursday, renewed winds presented challenges for firefighters as flames burned dry brush and trees near houses in the Riverside County city of Murrieta and unincorporated community of La Cresta. Two structures sustained minor damage.
"The front of the fire came right down into the neighborhood. There was just a massive amount of fuel on those hillsides," said Capt. Fernando Herrera with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Aircraft made continuous drops of water and retardant, he said.
Renee Harshman said she could see the Southern California fire grow before dawn from her bedroom window in the Copper Canyon neighborhood of Murrieta on the southern edge of the blaze.
"It was very scary to watch the flames, because it was riding along the ridge," she told the Riverside Press-Enterprise. "It was coming where a lot of people live."
"It's everywhere," said Daniel Ramos, who evacuated.
Firefighters were overcome by heavy smoke as they battled huge flames whipped by gusty winds to save hundreds of homes near Montanya Place and Oak Bluff Lane and horse farms near La Cresta.
Jacob Samarin and his father, a retired firefighter, stayed behind to save their home.
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"Right behind us the flames probably got 25 to 30 feet tall," he said. "Looked like our house was going."
His house was saved, thanks to firefighters.
Samarin is also training to be a firefighter just like his dad.
"They're so brave," he said of the firefighters. "Just the fact that they ran next to the flames without even a concern."
The fire erupted Wednesday afternoon on rural land, and erratic winds quickly pushed flames down hills toward homes about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The cause may have been a lightning strike as hot, muggy weather produced thunderstorms. Several small fires were sparked by lightning Thursday in the forest north of Los Angeles. Thunderstorms were possible into Friday, the National Weather Service said.
The fires were among several burning around the state.
In Northern California, a wildfire broke out Thursday in Tehama County and quickly chewed through more than 6.7 square miles (17.4 square kilometers) of brush and timber.
Residents of scattered properties west of Red Bluff were ordered to leave as a huge plume of smoke stretched into the sky. Officials were working to confirm the exact number of evacuations and structures in the path of the flames. Some seasonal cabins were threatened, according to Cal Fire. There was no containment.
There was also very little containment of a 1.5-square-mile (3.9-square-kilometer) blaze in rural forest land along the northern Sierra Nevada in Plumas County.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
