Re: Engine fire, EDI
Well that's specifically at odds to the BA manuals Puddle, old boy...
My emergency brief states that in the event of an emergency during take off, having brought the a/c to a halt and set the parking brake (after turning appropriately for any wind), we first discuss the reason for the stop. Personally, I might even take a deep breath and put the dome light on too. Then I call for any appropriate checklist (always the Engine fire c/l even if after simple flame-out or run down) which the F/O carries out unmonitored whilst I assess the situation by contacting CC, Twr or by looking out of the window. There's still probably useful information coming from the cockpit indications of course.
The SCCM will pick up the interphone and be waiting for me to talk to them but will not interrupt me until I initiate the conversation. F/O, as part of the recall items, only fires a fire bottle if the red light is on, then starts the stopwatch with a view to firing the other one if the light has not gone out within 30 seconds. The 30 seconds goes very quickly whilst you are gathering information from other sources, and on the 737 (and RJ) you can always open the DV windows and lean out to see what is happening behind. Only then, would you normally initiate an evacuation if the fire warning had not gone out after putting the second bottle in. It is generally considered more dangerous to evacuate unnecessarily it the fire has gone out and a more orderly disembarkation would do nicely. BA invest lots of time and money assessing this kind of stuff amongst 'core' safety managers and their policy is based on a considered evaluation of the risk assessment.
I say normally above, because there could always be a situation where the information you have learned before firing the second bottle makes it so obvious that an evacuation is necessary, that you would not wait. I feel this would be rare, but cannot be discounted. One thing pilots have to be is flexible. There is a lot going on in a short time... What is very important is to do things in the right order without rushing too much. Shutting down any engines still running is quite important before ordering the evacuation if you don't want to cook/mince those who think they are evacuating to safety. Panicking in headless chicken mode is not recommended.
PS. Hotel Mode is right about there having been spurious fire warnings on the ex CFE RJs. How goes it on the Jumbo, me old mucker?