Assuming it was a fire drill -- back in the olden times before the new normal, when I worked at the office, fire drills were mandatory exercises. That's the whole point of them: you don't get to ignore them. We were always told in no unclear terms that we were expected to take part in the drill, no exceptions, and people even got told off if they took the time to shut down their computers or go back for backpacks or whatever, because "in a real fire there's no time for that".

I suppose people working in critical positions were cut some slack. I can't imagine doing interviews is one of those positions.