Santa Barbara commission shown countywide Genesis evacuation mapping ahead of June 24 public launch

City emergency officials on May 22 gave the Santa Barbara Fire and Police Commission a demonstration of Genesis, a countywide, zone-based evacuation mapping and notification system that staff said will be publicly visible on June 24.

Fire Chief Chris Veil introduced the software and said the county’s public safety agencies worked together on implementation. "Genesis is a widely used program throughout the state that assists with evacuations of people based on zones or areas of the community," Veil said. Emergency services manager Stacy Rosenberger described how the system will let first responders set a zone’s status (evacuation warning, evacuation order, shelter-in-place or advisory) and make that status visible to the public immediately through a map and push notifications.

Rosenberger said Genesis — previously called Zone Haven — was funded through federal Homeland Security grant dollars awarded in February 2023 and that the county set aside maintenance funding through 2028. "We funded this two years ago, and…