VIDEO: 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.  

Evanston Fire Department ambulances will be equipped with portable chest compression systems thanks to a donation from the Evanston First Responders Foundation. The local nonprofit designated funding for three LUCAS devices, one for each of the department's ambulances, in honor of Oliver Brown Leopold, a graduate of the EFD's fire explorer program. LUCAS, which stands for Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System, is a portable chest compression system that allows first responders to keep up chest compressions without interruptions, significantly increasing the patient's chance of survival. Each LUCAS device costs about $17,000, according to the manufacturer. Announcing the donation, fire officials said the addition of the devices to the department's front-line ambulances would "undoubtedly make a significant difference in the effort to save lives."  

PHOTOS: Firefighters were called to fight a fire at an abandoned tavern in North Portland on Wednesday night. The call came in at about 7:30 p.m. The fire was at The Barn Tavern at 7421 North Denver Ave. According to Portland firefighters, the building was on their "unsafe building list" and there have been eight fires at the location in the last 12 months. "Even though we have a history with it, we know it is a very dangerous building, and it presented unsafe conditions for first responders, " said Rick Graves, spokesperson with Portland Fire & Rescue. Flames engulfed the building and because of the unsafe conditions, firefighters took up a defensive stance on the fire, pouring water onto the building from above. It was not immediately known whether anyone was inside at the time of the fire, but people have lived there in the past, Graves said.  

An Atlanta city council member is fighting to protect first responders who get hurt while choosing to respond to emergencies while off-duty. Earlier this month, Atlanta News First highlighted how long-time Atlanta firefighter and paramedic, Lieutenant Mark Quick, witnessed a car crash in January while off duty and stopped to help, but he was hit by a car in the process. Quick said the next thing he remembered was waking up in ICU at Grady Memorial Hospital with severe injuries all over his body. But Quick is not getting any workers' compensation or extended pay leave and it's all because he was not on duty at the time of the incident. After working with the Atlanta Firefighters Association and seeing our report, District 10 Council member Andrea L. Boone on Monday introduced legislation aimed at protecting first responders who are hurt while choosing to respond to an emergency while off-duty.  

VIDEO: The City of Bryan says they have no problem keeping up with emergency calls with the help of a new program. Community paramedics are emerging across the country. It's something that caught the eye of Chris Lamb with the Bryan Fire Department. "Every year the call volume increases more and more and more. In the past, it was always trying to throw ambulances at the problem, you know, and we really had to sit down and come up with innovative ideas and ways to handle certain situations," Lamb said. Lamb worked to identify frequent callers, people using the emergency number for non-emergencies or issues that could be treated from home.  

VIDEO: The Appleton Fire Department hosted a bell dedication ceremony on Wednesday morning to celebrate Station #1 receiving a new firefighter's bell. Officials say that throughout history, the life of a firefighter has been closely associated with the ringing of the bell. As firefighters began their tour of duty, it was the bell that signaled the start of a shift. Throughout the day and night, each alarm was sounded by a bell that summoned the firefighters to duty. When the call had ended, and the alarm was complete, it was the bell that signaled to all the completion of the distress call. In addition, when a firefighter died in the line of duty, officials say it was the mournful toll of the bell that solemnly announced a firefighter's passing.