Wheeling firefighters get specialized training on EVs
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As more electric vehicles hit the road, first responders in the Midwest want to be prepared.
A major carmaker is passing along tips to help firefighters who might respond to electric vehicle crashes and fires. CBS 2's Noel Brennan takes us to the classroom in Wheeling.
"Now, let's go through this one. This is the one for the Hummer EV, right. The product sitting behind me right here."
The lessons are geared to firefighters and they get flooded with information.
"If you have a relatively modern set of extrication tools, you can cut high strength steel, okay."
15:32 "So we want you to leave the vehicle intact, alright. The vehicle needs to be towed."
Experts from General Motors and the Illinois Fire Service Institute lead this training at the Mabas Readiness Center in Wheeling.
Firefighters get to learn in the classroom before they face a fire involving an electric vehicle. One on Sacramento burned for three hours.
"There are different responses and characteristics of lithium-ion battery fires than there are to internal combustion engine, or gas-powered vehicles."
With more EVs on the road, GM wants first responders to get a look under the hood.
"The orange cabling or the orange components. Those indicate, as an industry standard, high-voltage components that we don't want customers or any first responder or seconder to pull onto or cut," said Joe McLaine, staff engineer for GM.
The trainers hope firefighters take notes and ignore misconceptions.
"A lot of people were very afraid of putting water on an electrified vehicle because it's water and electricity, and they're under the misconception that the two don't mix," said Carrie Forrest, an instructor with the Illinois Fire Service Institute." When in all actuality, the most important thing we need to be using on these fires is water."
Lessons they can take from the classroom to the next call.
"What we're looking for is the first responder labeling. It's up front right there."
"As long as we can get a little extra education to put in our toolbox, so we have it when we need it, that's all we ask."
GM has been on the road all over the country since June of 2022 doing these trainings as EVs get more and more popular. In fact, many market analysts predict by the end of this decade, at least 40 percent of cars on the road will be electric.
The training is free to all first responders. So far, GM and the Illinois Fire Service Institute have traveled to more than 20 cities for these training sessions.