Widebody Transport
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Evacuated; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Aircraft; Company Policy; Procedure
I was one of the four crew members who were all eye witness to the horrible fire which persisted directly under the aft cargo compartment door burning it to charcoal black oblivion. I find it extremely ironic that as of this writing no one from the company or union has contacted me about the incident. I realize that none of us has any training or expertise in determining the cause of the fire however out of the four of us we have over 120 years of aviation experience; some civilian and some military. All four of us performed an evacuation of the aircraft as it filled with smoke fumes. All four of us did a thorough walk around examination of the fires' aftermath. Several of us obtained videos; dozens of photos and eye witness statements which contradict the theory of the loader catching on fire. All four of us had an extremely difficult time sleeping that night. Several of us had throat Irritation from the acidulous; electric smelling fumes. All four of us met in the morning wondering when we were going home because we were told we were going to ferry an obviously severely damaged aircraft back to ZZZ that night. We were in constant question on how to prepare for our next legs crew rest.
Air carrier pilot reported performing an evacuation of the aircraft at the gate during boarding when the cabin filled with smoke from an external fire in the vicinity of the aft cargo compartment.