Nebraska Couple Ready When There Is A Need

By Janet Flanagan

Most Red Cross volunteers don’t hop in a plane to respond to a local disaster. But Mike and Linda Nielsen of McCook, Neb., have.

Since they live in a rural area close to the borders of Kansas and Colorado, Mike Nielsen’s Beechcraft Sierra four-seat airplane can sometimes get them to a Red Cross emergency scene faster than a car.

Linda and Mike Nielsen

The Nielsens have responded to fires, floods and other disasters in Southwest Nebraska since 2008. They’re ready to offer shelter and comfort, share information and hand out a blanket or stuffed toys for kids. They cover a 70-mile area with seven counties.

“We average about three responses a year,” Linda Nielsen says. “We get the calls when people are unable to stay in their home. They’re scary situations for them.”

Mike Nielsen has been a pilot for 50 years. A chiropractor, he still works some afternoons. Linda Nielsen, now retired, served as a registered nurse at the community hospital for decades and taught satellite LPN classes. She previously deployed to New Jersey for the Red Cross response to Hurricane Ida.

“Our most unusual call was an airplane crash here in McCook,” Mike Nielsen says. “A plane took off on the east side of town and immediately had trouble. It went down and crashed in the backyard of a house. The residents were still in the house, and couldn’t stay because of spilled jet fuel.”

The Nielsens arranged shelter for the family, who escaped.

“We have enjoyed volunteering as a couple,” Mike Nielsen says. “We back each other up. One person will talk to a client while the other is entering information into the Red Cross file.”

“You hear amazing stories” during responses, Mike Nielsen says, "and remember touching moments," Linda Nielsen adds.

“Following a prairie fire, a reception center was set up for people to come in and apply for aid,” Mike Nielsen says. “A lady came. She was in a farmhouse that she rented and one of her friends said, ‘you better leave.’ She initially declined and then was convinced to go. That house burned to the ground. Had she stayed ...”

“We gave her a quilt, “Linda Nielsen says. “She was pretty taken by that and just sat there holding the quilt. She had lost a quilt that her grandmother made in the fire. You see people who lose everything and are so stunned by the loss.”

“Bad things happen to wonderful people,” Mike Nielsen adds.

“We are big proponents of smoke alarms,” Linda Nielsen says. “We go to so many fires here and see so many homes that don’t have smoke alarms. There was one family in McCook that lived in a trailer house and the husband of the family works at night. He decided to come home during his shift one day and discovered a fire had started.”

That father was lucky to be there to rescue his family, she points out. With no smoke alarm, the outcome could have been tragic.

As Red Cross volunteers, the Nielsens have enjoyed meeting others.

“We have met other responders who are very generous with their time and talents,” Linda Nielsen says. “Fire departments have been great. They know us by name now. It’s amazing that you can walk to a fire scene, and the firemen will point you to the fire chief. You become part of the first responder effort.”

“We’re ready when there is a need,” Linda Nielsen says.

Their plane recently received some repairs. And now that’s ready again, too.