Garrett County residents and visitors are advised that a planned multi-agency public safety training exercise will take place Tuesday, September 8 and Wednesday, September 9, 2026 in the area of the former Adventure Sports Institute International at the top of Marsh Mountain in McHenry.
The public should expect to see an increased presence of law enforcement, fire, EMS, HazMat and other local, regional, state and federal emergency response personnel, vehicles and specialized equipment in the area throughout the exercise.
This activity is part of a scheduled training exercise and is not indicative of an actual emergency.
Exercise setup and site preparations will begin Monday, September 7.
The Western Maryland Multi-Agency Exercise is designed to give participating agencies an opportunity to respond to a complex, evolving incident as realistically as practical. The exercise will test and strengthen incident command, communications, interoperability, resource coordination, responder safety and joint operations among multiple agencies.
The exercise is an important opportunity for public safety agencies to train together and strengthen the coordination and relationships that would be needed during an actual large-scale emergency.
Residents and motorists traveling near the training exercise area are asked to be aware of the additional emergency vehicles and activity and to use appropriate caution.