Fire Rips Through Utah County Dispatcher’s Home

PAYSON, Utah — A 911 Utah County dispatcher lost her home to a fire earlier this month and is warning other homeowners to double-check their insurance policies after she was told her policy isn’t going to pay for what she lost.

Rachel Nielsen was returning home from work that fateful night when she saw something nobody hopes to ever see.

“I turned down my street and saw smoke, flames, eight-foot flames coming off my roof,” she said while pointing to the ceiling.

Her neighbor had just called 911 when Nielsen pulled up.

“That was hard,” Nielsen said. “It’s hard to be on this side.”

It’s tough for her to be on that side because Nielsen is usually on the other side of dispatch calls, helping those in need.

Nielsen said she never thought she would be the one needing help.

“I had so many people show up to help. I was so grateful. I just felt so hopeless and helpless,” Nielsen said. “We all know each other. They helped me as best as they could.”

Nielsen, her daughter and their dog are fine.

However, almost everything they owned was lost.

“Everything is just gone,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “It burned so fast. When I left work, there were no files on our call screen. It only takes me 15 minutes to get home from the sheriff’s office. So fast. Fifteen minutes.”

On Tuesday, friends and neighbors helped her sort through personal items to determine what can be salvaged.

“A few books and some pictures. Boardgames,” she said while going through a box.

She lost far more than could be saved.

“Where to begin is just so overwhelming,” Nielsen said while looking around what was left of her living room. “I can’t put into words and describe how traumatizing it is … pictures. All my kids’ pictures. Cookbooks. Recipes from family. Grandparents. Quilts my mother made,” she said. “Everybody says it’s just stuff and that you can replace stuff. And that’s true, but when you can’t replace it, that’s hard.”

For as difficult as this all is for her to deal with, though, what also hit her hard was finding out her insurance policy isn’t going to pay for what she lost.

Nielsen was renting the house and said her renter’s insurance policy only covers the cost of a restoration crew cleaning up debris and ripping out walls.

“The restoration is pretty much where the money goes, so as far as my furniture and rebuilding, it will just be from scratch,” she said. “I didn’t realize what I had was just what my agent signed me up for.”

She wants others to check their insurance policies to make sure they’re covered.

“Check it, then double it and triple it,” Nielsen said. “Go through your home and add up the value of what it would cost to replace everything. Then double it. I thought I was covered for personal property, but I wasn’t.”

Nielsen said it’s a tough lesson learned and going through this is teaching her another lesson that will make her a better dispatcher.

“We always have empathy,” she said. “But now, I know. I understand how devastating it is when people are on the phone crying and screaming and you’re trying to find words for them.”

Nielsen said she’ll make it through and she and her daughter are staying with family for now.

It’s just, like her job, all about time.

“I love what I do, and I love my job,” she said. “I’ll be okay. We’ll get through this. It’s just hard right now.”