Thick smoke poured into the sky over Cape Cod, spreading for miles Thursday afternoon. Officials said the flames were coming from a large brush fire burning on Joint Base Cape Cod. Army National Guard officials said the fire started as a planned controlled burn,

A brush fire that burned for hours Thursday in the Camp Edwards Wildlife Management Area in Sandwich has been contained and no injuries were reported, according to the Massachusetts National Guard. All active fires have been knocked down, the guard said in a statement Friday.

More than a dozen local fire departments responded, including Sandwich, Bourne, Harwich, Onset, and Wareham. Fire officials activated a Plymouth County forest fire task force, bringing brush-breaker trucks from off the Cape as well.