Several backcountry volunteer fire departments are balking at new contracts with the county that require firefighters to take a physical exam, which many in leadership positions acknowledged they would not pass.

Last year, the Board of Supervisors approved a plan to bring several of the volunteer departments in the unincorporated parts of the region under one county agency, the newly formed San Diego County Fire Authority.

The $15 million plan included a provision to cover the volunteers' workers compensation insurance costs, which meant firefighters would have to take a medical exam.

Now, at least five volunteer fire agencies are refusing to sign the contracts because of the requirement.

"We were told it (the physical exam) was nonnegotiable, and we're not going to sign it," said Gil Turrentine, fire chief of the San Pasqual Volunteer Fire Department, one of the departments declining to sign the contract.

Turrentine said many longtime volunteers, including his assistant fire chief, are refusing to take the physical because they believe they will not pass the exam because of high blood pressure, weight and other problems.

Turrentine, 73, has been a volunteer firefighter for more than 50 years. He has led the volunteer department that covers the area east of Escondido since 1985. The new requirement could keep him from doing the work he loves, he said.

The four other fire departments that have signaled they will not sign a contract with the county are Ocotillo Wells, Shelter Valley, De Luz and Laguna Mountain, said Ken Miller, the county's fire services coordinator.

If the agencies don't sign the contract, the county will have to find other departments willing to cover those areas, including the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Miller said.

The deadline to sign the contract is July 1, Miller said.

For years, the county had tried to consolidate the volunteer fire agencies to better prepare the region for major wildfires, such as the ones that occurred in 2003 and 2007, which burned hundreds of thousands of acres and destroyed thousands of homes.

In November, voters in the county turned down Proposition A, a ballot measure that would have created a regional fire authority funded through a countywide parcel tax. It would have controlled a fleet of fire engines and aircraft to use during a regional fire emergency, including the cities.

Under the smaller-scale plan approved last year, the San Diego County Fire Authority only includes the unincorporated areas.

To participate in the authority, the fire agencies must use "only county approved volunteers," according to the contract. That means volunteers must pass the physical exam.

Under the plan, the county also pays for training, equipment and stipends for volunteers when they are on duty. The volunteers would get about $100 a day as a way to compensate them for their time and travel expenses.

The plan also pays $30,000 to each department for operations.

Thus far, 180 volunteers have taken and passed the physical exam, Miller said. Only four people have failed.

The county's insurance plan is authorized to cover up to 550 volunteers.

Miller said requesting that the volunteers take a medical exam is not too much to ask. Volunteer firefighters must be able to perform basic duties, he said. Otherwise, they may put themselves and others at risk.

"We really want them to be able to serve their community and that they don't become part of the problem," Miller said.

The physical, which is paid by the county, is a standard medical exam that includes blood and urine tests. The volunteers also must be able to pass a stress, or treadmill, test. That means walking and then jogging on a treadmill while wearing electrodes to monitor heart activity. Every three minutes, both the incline and the treadmill and its speed are increased. The stress test is designed to detect heart problems.

Turrentine said he passed the stress test, but was disqualified to serve as a volunteer by the county because he can't lift more than 50 pounds or wear a breathing apparatus -- the result of an injury he said he suffered after falling off a firetruck three years ago.

The fire chief said he is asking the county to implement a tiered system, which would loosen the requirements for leadership staff. As a fire chief, he doesn't have to be as physically fit as younger firefighters, he said.

"I don't have to run into a burning building," Turrentine said. "I stand outside and direct."

That's not good enough, Miller said.

"Whether you're a fire chief or a new firefighter, you are going to be subject to all sorts of different kinds of jobs," Miller said. "You are going to have to be able to lift a hose, wear heavy safety equipment, hike over the side of a cliff. You can't just say, 'I'm never going to have to do that.'"

Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511.