IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING SHADE STRUCTURES/POP-UPS

The city of Chattahoochee Hills has asked us to make 2 changes that may affect everyone attending. Please read the full announcement below.

Here is the short version:

We are asking that no one use open flames to cook under any covering (pop up, shade structure, etc) due to possible fire risks. For those who set up pop-ups, shade structures, living areas, etc, the city wants the material used in the covering to meet a minimum flame-resistant material rating. You can confirm this by looking for a tag or printing on the material that says it meets the specifications of California Title 19 (certified by the California State Fire Marshal) or NFPA 701. The above picture is an example of the type of tag that you might see.

Full Announcement:

1. Please do not cook with an open flame under your shade structure or popup

Due to the fire risk involved, the city has asked us to ask you to not cook with an open flame underneath any covering (pop up, shade structure, etc.). If a popup were to catch fire, that fire could spread quickly to other structures and tents, as well as starting a grass fire. We want to mitigate that risk by being very careful with using open flame where there is a covering overhead.

This applies even when the material in the covering has a flame resistance rating.

If it is raining, then we understand that you cannot cook without a covering overhead. In that situation, we ask that you exercise caution and make sure you are paying attention to the heat reaching the overhead material.

2. The material used for shade structures, popups, monkey huts, etc needs to be rated as flame-resistant according to California Title 19 or NFPA 701

You may have noticed that when we moved to our current site we made a change to all of the tents used for things like Center Camp, Information, Rangers, etc. We made this change to comply with the city’s requirements for our event permit. Those requirements need to be extended to all participants because the permitting requirements don’t make a distinction between “official” structures and those brought in by the community.

In simplest terms, we need to ask that everyone using pop-ups, shade structures, tarps for monkey huts, and similar materials check that the material used is rated as flame resistant under California Title 19 or NFPA 701.

We will be relying on each of you to take this into consideration for yourself. You don’t need to provide any documentation to us. If we need to ask you about your material, then one of the Event Committee members on duty will come to talk to you.

Flame resistance rating information will normally be printed on the material, or on a tag that is attached to it. We are including an example of a type of tag that is often used. Yours may not look exactly like this, but it should list the specifications that the fabric meets, and it will likely have a graphic showing it is registered with the California State Fire Marshal. The California State Fire Marshal's office is a national leader in flame-resistant material certification, so their certification is the preferred standard. You can check with the manufacturer of your structure or material to see what level of fire resistance it meets. Ezup, the company that makes a lot of popups, for example, states that all of its fabric meets the necessary standards. If you don’t see any flame resistance ratings on your structure, you can check with the manufacturer to see if the material is rated. If the manufacturer says it is, please print out their response and bring it with you, just in case.

Personal tents are not included in this requirement.

Almost every tent that is sold in the last decade or more will have a flame retardant applied at the time of manufacture, and commercially manufactured tents for camping are not part of this requirement.

It does apply to any material used to create shade areas, living spaces, whatever you want to call them.

If your current material or structure is not flame resistance rated, or you cannot confirm the flame resistance rating, we have to ask that you not use it at Alchemy this year. If you are looking for new elements for your camp, please check the flame resistance rating. It is unlikely that anything you could apply yourself would make a material meet the California Title 19 or NFPA 701 criteria, so we suggest this is not a good method of meeting the requirement. If you are using a non-flame resistance rated material at Alchemy, you may be asked to take down that material and not use it.

Rangers will not be dealing with issues related to cooking or material flame resistance ratings. The Event Committee and the Alchemy Fire Service will handle all questions and concerns, both before the event and on-site. We are asking everyone attending Alchemy 2021 to take these changes into account for yourself and your camp.

If you have questions on this requirement or need help interpreting the flame resistance tag on your material, you can email the Alchemy Fire Service at firesafety@alchemyburn.com.