...have only ever trained to evacuate in the event of fire.
Unfortunately, this is the case for most of us. But I believe a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to fire is not appropriate. An evacuation is one possibility, sitting tight is another. The important thing is that for the former to be a viable solution you need to have information about the location and extent of your fire and have faith in the RFF crew attending.
But isn't that the exact reason you would WANT to evacuate?
Yes and no. The basic problem is that it is very difficult for the fire crews to put out fires whilst people are evacuating an aircraft. At a CAT 10 airport foam is capable of being discharged at a rate in excess of 11,000 litres per minute. That may have to stop to prevent evacuating passengers from being injured, thus jeopardising those still on board. Fire or frying pan?
PM