B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 122; Flight Crew Total 13037; Flight Crew Type 2766
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
General Evacuated; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
It was a normal uneventful flight with a visual approach to Runway XXR. We landed and exited and taxied to the gate. We parked the aircraft at Gate XX and accomplished the parking checklist. The jet bridge was brought up to the aircraft. At this time we saw two ground personnel with a mobile fire extinguisher pointing to the right wheel assembly to alert us of a potential fire at the right wheel assembly and brakes. We immediately called for fire department support. With smoke visible outside we elected to evacuate the cabin through the main cabin door into the terminal. I informed the purser of the situation and commanded the passengers to evacuate through the main cabin door. First Officer and the inflight crew did an outstanding job throughout the evacuation; keeping everyone calm and orderly. We continued to monitor the situation through deplaning and post flight; staying in contact with all departments. Everyone involved did an outstanding job. Excellent CRM and communication for a quick safe resolution.
After taxiing into Gate XX at ZZZ and given the set your brakes signal along with the chocks in signal from the taxi director we shutdown engines and started to prepare for deplaning and running parking checklist. As the jetway approached the aircraft the Captain noticed unusual and hectic movement from ramp personnel. While no 'fire signal' was transmitted to the flight deck I opened my window to try to see what was going on. Ramp personnel pointed to the right rear of the aircraft and as I looked back I could see smoke coming from the right outboard tire area. Informing the Captain of the condition he immediately directed the Purser to manually open the 1L door (instead of waiting for the gate agent who was bring the shroud down to the aircraft fuselage) and start evacuation of the cabin thru the forward entry door and jetway. The Captain made a PA announcement for everyone to leave their personal baggage behind and to quickly move forward to evacuate the aircraft. We quickly ran thru the evacuation checklist and I called ground control to roll the emergency vehicles to our location due to a potential fire in our right tire area. Ramp personnel were already using ramp fire extinguishers on the right wheels. Winds were in excess of 30 kts. direct crosswind on the ramp so door 2L was not used. During my landing on XXR with strong left cross winds the aircraft seems to handle properly. Centerline was tracked with left aileron into the wind. Deceleration was normal and brakes were responsive and disengaged with manual pressure while on runway and deselected once clear of runway. Strong winds were out of the west and could be felt on the airframe. Taxi route went from XXR exit XX to XY to X to XZ. Once on Taxiway X number two engine was shutdown and we taxied XZ to [gate]. Once I relinquished controls to Captain on the runway I had no immediate feel of the aircraft but did not notice anything unusual till after the parking brake set and looked out my window. Once aware of our situation the Captain took immediate action to safely evacuate the aircraft and communicated his intentions to the Purser and passengers. We went from a normal deplaning to an evacuation in a matter of seconds. Flight attendants responded with professionalism and executed their duties flawlessly in moving passengers out of the cabin.
B737 flight crew reported a wheel fire at the gate resulted in an evacuation.