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South Lake Tahoe UPS driver, wife recount evacuation from Caldor Fire

The Donnelley's evacuated their South Lake Tahoe home at 3 a.m. on August 30, after bullhorns instructed residents to evacuate.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — As hazardous air from the Caldor Fire began to blanket South Lake Tahoe, Nannette Donnelley said the health and safety of her family was the only thing on her mind. 

Nannette's husband, Geoff, works as a truck driver for UPS and was out delivering in the hazardous conditions. 

"As a driver with a truck full of packages, [his] goal is to get that out to the community. When you are thinking in terms of that human being aspect, it can be at the expense of the driver," Nannette said.

Nannette said she bought her husband a respirator to continue doing his job. And he kept up those deliveries until South Lake Tahoe was placed under a mandatory evacuation order.

"As soon as they put the building under a mandatory evacuation order, they pulled the trucks back into the building," Nannette said.

Nannette and Geoff evacuated their South Lake Tahoe home at 3 a.m. on August 30, after bullhorns instructed residents to evacuate. They went to Stockton to be with their daughter who works with the Kings County Sheriff's Department and is helping with evacuations. 

Despite having lived in South Lake Tahoe for the last seven years, Nannette said they are taking things in stride. 

"At the end of the day, it's just a house. If it goes, it goes," she said.

Like many others displaced during the fires, the Donnelley's are considering disaster-related unemployment as they wait things out.

"Mother nature is going to have the last say. We hope for the best that people get out and the firefighters stay safe," Nannette said.

Coincidentally, the couple's oldest daughter lives in New Orleans and she also had to evacuate because of Hurricane Ida.

OSHA standards require employers to provide personal protective equipment when necessary to protect employees from job-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. OSHA requires employers to pay for personal protective equipment when it is used to comply with OSHA standards.

WATCH ALSO: Caldor Fire: Update from around South Lake Tahoe and Meyers | 6 p.m. Tuesday

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