Former Iowan chased away by Arizona wildfire

A retired county official from eastern Iowa is giving second thoughts to being an Arizona “snow bird.” As Bill and Nadine Cusack drove to Show Low, Arizona, on Saturday, people were parked along the roadway, watching what Cusack calls “a hypnotically beautiful, yet deadly looking cloud.” It was smoke from that devastating forest fire raging toward the community of seventy-seven hundred. Once back at their Show Low house, Cusack, a former Scott County sheriff’s candidate and retired Scott County treasurer, and his wife videotaped their possessions. He says a city worker knocked on their door at 7 p.m. and told them the community had been ordered evacuated, that they had several hours to get out. But Cusack says they grabbed some possessions and left sooner than that after seeing a huge wall of flames on the horizon from their rear deck. Today, the Cusacks are safe at their second home, located in the valley near Chandler. Like thousands of others, they’re nervously awaiting news from Show Low…where officials say it’s not a matter of whether the fire will ravage the community — but when.