A fire at a Bridgestone Corp. tire plant in Kuroiso, Tochigi Prefecture, was contained Tuesday after burning for about 24 hours.
A little while later, more than 5,000 nearby residents returned home as the city lifted an evacuation order.
Firefighters continued to fight the blaze that erupted around noon Monday, as massive amounts of raw material for tires was still smoldering as of Tuesday afternoon.
According to the police and firefighters, the Tokyo-based tire maker's 41,000 sq. meter facility was almost completely burned, but it will still take some time before the fire can be fully put out.