The Portland Fire Department plans to conduct a Weapons of Mass Destruction drill Thursday to test the city’s ability to respond to a hazardous material emergency. The exercise will cause disruptions to traffic on Read Street and Baxter Boulevard.

The drill does not actually simulate an attack but instead will involve responding to a truck leaking pesticide following a crash.

Crews will respond as if drums filled with pesticide were ruptured and leaking their contents into the city’s storm drains on Read Street threatening Back Cove. There will also be reports of people in nearby buildings injured and missing, according to a press release about the event.

Read Street was the site last winter of an ammonia leak at the Americold facility that led to the evacuation of nearby neighborhoods.

“This exercise provides us with an excellent opportunity to work with our regional partners and test the city’s ability to address a crisis involving critical infrastructure,” Fire Chief Frederick LaMontagne said in a written statement.

Read Street from Bell Street to Canco Road will be reduced to one lane with alternating traffic from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM. Westbound Baxter Boulevard will be detoured through Payson Park to Ocean Avenue and Vannah Avenue, the statement said.