Chattahoochee Hills: Firesafe Materials Policy
The city of Chattahoochee Hills is asking Alchemy to make sure that the fabrics used for shade structures are properly treated with a fire retardant by the manufacturer. The technical details can be confusing, so we are going to try to simplify the requirements. If, after reading this, you have more questions you can email fire@alchemyburn.com
TL; DR:
None of this applies to your personal tent, if it is sold by the manufacturer as a tent for personal sleeping use.
None of this applies to individual shade structures less than 144 square feet.
If two shade structures are within 2 feet of each other, they will be counted as a single shade structure for the purposes of calculating square feet.
These requirements do apply to ANY fabric over 144 square feet used to cover an area of your campsite, whether you purchased it as a pop up, canopy, garage, or other structure, or any fabric you purchased so you could make your own shade structure.
The materials used for the walls of your pavilions do not have to follow the same restrictions that the ceiling does, and will not require replacement.
You will NOT be able to buy a coating you can apply to your fabric to make it fire retardant and meet the requirement. You can find sprays and liquids that are fire retardants, but the city requires the fabric itself to be certified, meaning it has to be tested in a lab that is licensed for this specific testing
Use the 2024 Theme Camp Grant Application to apply for funds to purchase fire safe material versions of your existing shade structures.
Is my covering ok to use?
Follow these easy flowchart and steps to determine whether your shade covering can be used at Alchemy this year:
Step 1
Check the fabric of your popups, shade structures, and any other cover you use in your camp that isn’t manufactured as a personal tent, and is more than 144 square feet. Look for a tag or printing on the fabric that mentions “California Fire Marshall”, “CPAI-84”, or “NFPA-701” certification. If it has that, you are good, and you can stop reading here.
Step 2
If there is nothing on the fabric to show the certification, check the website of the manufacturer or seller to see if they specify that the fabric has a Certificate of Flame Resistance. Again, you are looking for “California Fire Marshall”, “CPAI-84”, or “NFPA-701” certification. If the website says it meets ONE of these, then you are good. You can print out a copy in case we need to check it, and keep it with your burn gear. You can stop reading here.
Step 3
If you are still reading then likely your fabric does not meet any (one) of the three required certifications. At this point, you will not be able to use that fabric at Alchemy. You will need to secure a replacement that has a Certificate of Flame Resistance. Alchemy has a fire safe material replacement grant program to help with the cost of the replacement fabric for theme camps. We will also be able to help you with finding the right fabric if you need help. You can email firesafematerials@alchemyburn.com with any questions.
Tag Examples
Here are two examples of what the tags might look like. The tags or printing on your fabric may not look like these.
Suggested products
Here is a document with some suggested links for purchasing fire safe materials. These are not the only products that are ok to use, merely a convenient list of known good options.