MARIPOSA, Calif.— Firefighters got a better grip Friday on the Telegraph fire burning north of Mariposa, Calif., allowing more evacuated residents to return to their homes.

But for some residents like Darlene and Orval Arebalo, it was bittersweet.

The couple returned home to find their mobile home destroyed by fire. They also noticed that someone had toppled several large pine trees on their property on Whitlock Road, a few miles north of Mariposa.

“Some of these trees were a thousand years old,” Darlene Arebalo said. “What burns me is that the trees were healthy. They cut them without even asking us.”

Miles away, firefighters dug in to fight the remaining northern flank of the blaze near Jenkins Hill that has so far scarred 34,034 acres, or 53 square miles, and destroyed 21 homes.

The Merced River helped firefighters by acting as a natural barrier, preventing the fire from getting closer to Yosemite, eight miles away. Bulldozers also cut several deep grooves into the landscape to help stop the fire from spreading.

By late Friday, the blaze was 60 percent contained. Officials said they don’t know when it will be fully contained.