Beverly Hills residents who memorized their old evacuation zone number need to learn a new code.

The Beverly Hills Fire Department announced on Monday, May 26, that the city's nine emergency zones have been renamed from simple numbers (Zone 1 through Zone 9) to alphanumeric codes: BHL 101, BHL 201, and so on through BHL 901. The change aligns Beverly Hills with the State of California's nomenclature and the Genasys Protect platform used by surrounding agencies for zone-based evacuation alerts.

The distinction matters in an emergency. When an evacuation order goes out, it will reference the new BHL codes. Residents who don't recognize their zone could miss or misread a critical alert.

"It's important our residents know what zone they are part of that may be referenced during an evacuation order or emergency," Fire Chief Greg Barton said in the city's announcement. "We hope that everyone takes this time to re-educate themselves, their family and loved ones so we can all stay safe."

The city's nine zones cover every neighborhood and are used to communicate evacuation orders, traffic control points, and shelter-in-place directives. Each zone is designed to function independently during a disaster.

The announcement follows two BHFD evacuation drills — one in Trousdale Estates in November 2025 and a second near Franklin Canyon on Saturday, May 2 — and comes as Southern California enters summer fire season.

Residents can look up their new zone designation and view a neighborhood map at beverlyhills.org/justincasebh. The Genasys Protect help center recommends writing your zone code somewhere visible, like on your refrigerator or by the front door, so you can quickly check whether you're in an affected area when an alert arrives.