There was a huge 5-alarm fire at my husband's workplace today. It was at a warehouse with 2 large buildings that are fairly close together.
He was told to stay put and keep working despite all the smoke due to the fire not being in his specific building. They were trying to bribe people to stay and work with food.
He told his manager he was leaving and didn't care about getting in trouble, he didn't feel safe. About 10 minutes after he leaves, there were explosions because trucks outside caught fire.
I saw the smoke several towns over and even had debris fall on our house. It was so large, it showed up on weather radar.
According to his coworkers, anyone who didn't leave when my husband did was stranded in the parking lot until 5pm. It was absolutely ridiculous.
They were putting all of their lives in danger just by being near the fire. The air quality was horrid and debris was flying everywhere. I worry anyone who stayed my get sick at some point, but I doubt the company will take responsibility.
If you or a family member feel like their lives are in danger by staying put, just leave. Getting yelled at or fired isn't worth taking years off your life, or ending it entirely.
Tl;dr : Husbands work place catches fire, he gets told to stay, he tells his boss to stay mad and leaves mere minutes before explosions cause the building to evacuate.