MADRID (AP) — Authorities say residents of the central Spanish town of Sesena have been allowed to return to their homes as the danger caused by a fire that has raged for 30 hours in a nearby tire dump has diminished.

The regional government of Castilla-La Mancha lowered the danger level Saturday and permitted residents to return with the recommendation that surgical face-masks be used when outdoors.

It had ordered the evacuation of 9,000 people Friday from a large apartment block complex in Sesena as plumes of acrid, thick black smoke rose from the dump containing an estimated 100,000 metric tons (110,000 tons) of used tires.

Regional spokesman Francisco Martinez Arroyo said the fire was "totally confined" and firefighters expected to be able to extinguish it completely within three or four days.