Couldn't have summed it up any better.
In some cases, for the CC it's a choice between the lesser of two evils when it comes to bags in an evac. With a fire being there, I wouldn't want to waste time tussling over luggage.
Given of course that I'd also try to evaluate as the situation progressed and act accordingly.
Trying to tell a planeful of pax, who may or may not speak your language, to do anything they don't want to do can be akin to drinking from a fire hose now add panic into that mix....