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 then subsequent to that, we have two additional years of funding up through 2028," Rosenberger said. She estimated the countywide ongoing cost at roughly $120,000 a year and said that, if Homeland Security funding ends, the cost would be shared by jurisdictions; she told commissioners the city’s ongoing share would be in the $20,000-to-$30,000 range.

The staff demonstration emphasized two platforms: Genesis Evac, an internal tool for first responders with populated data (population day/night, vehicles, acreage, structures, traffic points, shelters and other operational layers); and Genesis Protect, the public-facing map and app available at protect.genesis.com and embedded at readySBC.org/emergency. Rosenberger said the county refined its zones during 2024 and reduced the city’s zones from 42 to 25 to make evacuations more targeted. She also said Cottage Hospital is an exclusion zone so the hospital would remain open unless an evacuation of the facility were absolutely necessary.

Rosenberger and Veil stressed that Genesis does not replace the county’s ReadySBC wireless alerting system (used for WEA/Wireless Emergency Alerts). "This is not an emergency alert system. It does not replace our countywide emergency alert system ReadySBC alerts. This just enhances that ability to see that map and see that zone," Rosenberger said. Notifications from Genesis Protect are push notifications (like app notifications), not the wireless emergency alerts that override phone silence settings.

Staff outlined public outreach before launch: coordinated countywide messaging, FAQs, videos, social media and radio PSAs. Rosenberger said the public-facing map and app are English-only on release; to address language access she said the reason field shown in the app will include English and Spanish text for every activation and that other city/county channels will provide Spanish-language outreach.

Commissioners asked about traffic congestion during evacuations and about the software’s relationship to the regional dispatch and the new regional fire dispatch center. Veil said departments will continue to emphasize early notification and personal preparedness — "ready, set, go" — so residents are prepared before an order is issued. He said notifications issued for city incidents flow from city dispatch to the county sheriff’s dispatch or the Office of Emergency Services depending on the incident and that the regional center will be aware of activated zones via the same communications links.

Rosenberger said training for first responders was underway and that the county scheduled a demonstration to the Board of Supervisors on June 3. The commission asked staff to return to the commission about a month or two after implementation to report on lessons learned; staff said they would.

Staff asked the public to register for ReadySBC at readySBC.org; Rosenberger said ReadySBC remains the central hub for county alerts and that Genesis works with ReadySBC to provide mapped context.

The commission received the presentation and had no formal action on the item at the meeting.