The usual NR lifts are not suitable for use in evacuation situations because they have only one power supply so could very easily be incapacitated. Lifts suitable for use in emergency situations have dual power supplies and have greater design involvement to ensure reliability of supply.
The usual advice is to go to the extreme end of a platform where you are less likely to be affected by smoke - which kills a lot more people than fire - because it is normally better ventilated. There are, of course, exceptions to this but it is a general rule.
The question still remains as to how they'd get you off the platform and how they'd keep you safe in the interim. As a little experiment, wear what you'd normally wear for commuting on a day like today and then try sitting outside not moving your legs. It surprised me how much faster you get cold as a wheelchair user. If the plan is to evacuate by train, how long will it take before trains are running again? If you were stranded on the platform on a day like today, as a wheelchair user you'd be getting hypothermic within about an hour. The other concern is although compartments are meant to have 60 minute fire resistance, as in the case of Nottingham station what was actually built wasn't what was designed.
Shafts for fire-fighting lifts are designed to have forced ventilation giving them a higher pressure than the surrounding floors to reduce/prevent smoke ingress. The same is usually true of escape stairwells in tall buildings
Having staff who are prepared to 'stay behind' is good but how likely are they to actually stay in a real event rather than a drill? It's a massive unknown. The situation described that has been agreed does meet the duty under the regs as it doesn't rely on the FRS even though they'll be a useful adjunct and would turn up and assist in most cases before it became a life risk
Initially the thread was about non-fire strandings on inaccessible platforms but has drifted into fire situations too
