Why a magazine may be flooded before everyone escapes

Did captains normally evacuate compartments before flooding them, especially magazines?

They tried to, but an uncontrollable magazine fire could force immediate local flooding before everyone escaped.

The preferred action is to clear the magazine or turret spaces before flooding. A rapidly developing fire may leave no time for the captain to make a centralized decision, however, because local personnel can operate emergency flooding controls. The choice may become the death of trapped sailors versus the loss of the entire ship and crew. The panel emphasizes that the men closest to the danger sometimes make that decision themselves. This is a stark example of decentralized damage control under catastrophic time pressure.