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Firefighters beat giant back a bit

WEST GLACIER, Mont. - Residents of this gateway community to Glacier National Park may be allowed to return home in the coming days, a sign that firefighters have made significant gains against a big wildfire that threatened the town and park headquarters.

Two days of successful backfires created a precarious barrier between the advancing fire and the town, and officials told residents Thursday that homecoming could be a day or two away.

About 500 residents were forced to evacuate the West Glacier area this week.

Fire managers warned Thursday that the nearly 19,000-acre blaze could run the other direction, toward the resort town of Whitefish. They say forest conditions are extreme: tinder dry, with erratic winds and temperatures above 100.

Fire managers were pleased with their gains Thursday, and said hundreds of homes in the area could be safe if the burnout succeeds.

So far, the protection efforts have been the focus of a 900-member firefighting team. For the first time Thursday, they proclaimed part of the Robert fire contained - 5 percent of the front line.

WASHINGTON - Pizza lovers may soon see a broader variety of vegetable, cheese and sauce topping frozen pizzas that have meat.

The Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Thursday it is loosening the ingredient requirements for meat pizzas. The agency is charged with enforcing standards that restrict how much meat, fat, and water goes into making frozen pizzas that are topped with sausage, pepperoni, hamburger, chicken or other meats.

Starting in October, frozen pizza makers can put just 2 percent cooked meat or 3 percent raw meat on top, instead of the 12 percent cooked or 15 percent raw that are currently required.

The American Frozen Food Institute sought the change, arguing that a less restrictive standard means they could produce more healthful pizzas with less fat and cholesterol. Officials with the industry group did not return phone calls for comment.

For consumers, this means they will see new frozen pizzas offering less meat, but more vegetables, sauce, cheese, or other toppings, said Steven Cohen, a spokesman for the agency.

Manufacturers "were really kind of at a disadvantage because every time they added meat it had to be 15 percent of the total, or 12 percent, so it really limited the types of ingredients they could offer," Cohen said. "They'll have the flexibility to do a lot of new things."

RINGLING CAN FACE ELEPHANT ABUSE CHARGES: A federal judge has declined to dismiss a lawsuit by animal welfare groups claiming Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has abused Asian elephants in violation of the Endangered Species Act. In his decision Wednesday, U.S District Judge Emmet Sullivan said the case can go forward because Asian elephants are considered an endangered species under federal law. He did not rule on the substantive charges. A lawyer for Ringling Bros. declined to comment.

FOUR MEN CHARGED IN HUMAN SMUGGLING: Four men were charged Thursday with smuggling 11 immigrants whose badly decomposed bodies were found in a railcar at a grain elevator in Iowa last fall. The 27-count indictment is the first to result from the smuggling deaths. The charges came nearly nine months after workers cleaning railcars in Denison, Iowa, found the bodies. They had been trapped in the railcar for at least four months.