Wildfire Training Exercise Scheduled at Barnstable County Fire Training Academy on March 26
March 25, 2025 (Barnstable, MA) – On Wednesday, March 26, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Barnstable County’s Cape Cod Center for Public Safety Training will host a full-scale Wildland Firefighting Exercise at the former Barnstable County Fire Training Academy, located at 155 South Flint Rock Road in Hyannis. The former academy will serve as the staging area and units will deploy into the state forest in the vicinity to conduct the exercise.
This planned exercise is part of a regional effort to strengthen wildfire preparedness on Cape Cod and will simulate a fast-moving wildfire impacting wildland urban interface (WUI) areas. Fire departments from across the Lower, Mid, and Upper Cape will participate, with support from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee, AmeriCorps Cape Cod, the Barnstable County Technical Rescue Team, and Providence Canteen.
The exercise will include four key training components: burnout operations support, Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) structure protection tactics, progressive hose lays, and handline construction. All operations will be conducted using only water-based methods. No firefighting foam will be used at any time during this event.
This exercise is for training purposes to test tactical response in addition to communication, coordination, and safety systems at scale. There is no emergency and no threat to the public.
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