Rain fell on the Santa Barbara area for the first time in six months and provided firefighters a helping hand for a blaze that had ripped through the hills north of the Southern California city Tuesday.

Thousands of residents were forced from their homes after the so-called Cave Fire burned through more than 6.8 square miles in the Los Padres National Forest north of Santa Barbara and Goleta.

Some of those evacuated were allowed to return home Tuesday after high winds topping 80 mph eased and firefighters started to contain the blaze. The rest of the evacuation orders were lifted Wednesday morning, when the fire was 20 percent contained.

(MORE: Rain, Snow to Pound West Coast)

At one point, 2,400 structures were threatened and evacuation orders were issued for more than 6,000 people. No structures have been destroyed so far, and the cause of the fire remains unknown.

Santa Barbara airport has picked up 0.2 inches of rain so far and should see additional rain through Thursday.

While the rain was good news for the fire, emergency officials in Santa Barbara warned that it could also cause minor debris flows in areas recently charred by the fire. Santa Barbara County officials issued a debris flow evacuation warning for highly populated areas to the south of the fire, but that warning has also been lifted.

Burned areas, known as burn scars, are prone to mudslides because the vegetation-less area doesn't absorb water like healthy earth does. Mudslides are possible in burn scar areas for years after a fire until the land heals.

Santa Barbara County issued evacuation orders and warnings for the hills north of Santa Barbara and Goleta with the fire burning in the direction of those highly populated areas. The county also declared a local emergency to mobilize all available resources to fight the fire.

"The Cave Fire is causing conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within Santa Barbara County," the emergency declaration said. "These conditions are beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of the combined forces of the county’s Operational Area to combat."

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.