Lompoc fire officials on Tuesday gave the City Council an update on the city’s evacuation notification system, Genesys (formerly ZoneHaven), and asked residents to register so they can receive zone‑specific alerts during an emergency. Battalion Chief Cody Lee said the system maps the city into numbered evacuation zones and pushes targeted instructions — including evacuation warnings and mandatory evacuation orders — to users in the affected zone.

“The whole kind of the saying for this program is to know your zone,” Battalion Chief Cody Lee said during the presentation, describing how residents who register and identify their address will be told which zone they are in and where to go if authorities issue evacuation instructions.

The presentation explained that the system was implemented in 2024 and was rolled out to the operational area that includes all local fire and law agencies through a memorandum of agreement and subsequent contract amendments. Staff said a Homeland Security grant administered by the Office of Emergency Management covers the program for four years; any decision to continue the service after that period would depend on future grant awards or local funding.

Lee and other staff walked the council through the public sign‑up process on readysbc.org and demonstrated the Genesys web and mobile interfaces that emergency personnel use to overlay incident perimeters and population data. Lee noted the system’s recent use during January wildfires that helped first responders overlay fire maps onto zones to coordinate evacuations, calling it “real time information.”

Council members asked about the program’s recurring cost when the grant ends and about alternatives if cellular service fails. Staff said the recurring operating cost will be determined as the pilot progresses; in the short term grant funding covers the service. As a non‑cell backup, staff noted the city’s radio station can be used to broadcast emergency information during wide outages.

The presentation concluded with a public‑facing demonstration of signing up and searching an address to find a zone; staff encouraged the public to register to receive targeted alerts and reunification directions in emergencies. The council did not take formal action; the briefing informed future operational and budget decisions.