goodgirl, exactly.
I think I am being realistic. Our airline says doors must be covered on boarding/disemabarking and obviously t/o and landing. However doors may be left unattended to carry out safety-related duties, such as demo and headcount.
On the BAe146 the No.1 reads the demo from the front, CA3F does demo at row 1 and CA3R does demo half way down cabin. Doors are armed prior to demo. OK, slide might not inflate and it won't be the tidiest evac but I doubt average joe pax will have any problem opening the door, especially when their life depends on it. Fire outside? They'll certainly know about it as they crack the door open, meanwhile another pax is probably opening the other door.
This is all for a 2-min demo remember.
APU fire- you may not be aware but the APU is enclosed in a titanium metal housing for fire safety reasons.
Standard emergency situation- i.e. one that is written in the SEP manual, not a realistic one.