CFR never once told him to hold off. They informed him of smoke coming from the left engine. That's it. He had no intention of an evac until that point, combined with the fact CFR wouldn't reply to his numerous calls after that fact. Someone said one time on frequency "to hold off on the evac", but no one was ever able to confirm who that was. The GOM specifically states to consider an evac for fire or suspected fire. He had just air returned for a burning smell and then CFR informs you of smoke from the left engine. Then CFR goes NORDO and now he has to make a decision based on what he knows at that point. Maybe in hindsight the evac wasn't required, but I'm not going to second guess this crew and their decision. He followed our GOM and was fired for it.