Almost 60 seconds wasted because fire engines took only pavement
Are you obliged to keep all grass within the airport perimeters in a condition, which allows heavy vehicles to use it without getting stuck? Would not be an easy task in the tropics...
smell of fuel being reported in the cabin
How many pax can tell the smell of jetfuel? Probably the typical smell of
burned fuel people know from engine start with adverse wind.
the Saudia L-1011 disaster in 1980 has never been given a root cause of the fire that destroyed that aircraft
It is agreed anyway, that it started
inside the cabin. That is a completely different scenario, and it is hard to argue why not to evacuate immediately in that case.
Hopefully the 777 interior is a bit more modern / less toxic when burning than the L-1011 Interior designed in the late 60s