A new report released Thursday could become the blueprint for the county's efforts to reorganize rural firefighting resources.

The report, written by county administrators, is to be presented to the county Board of Supervisors at its June 25 meeting. It proposes to reorganize six rural volunteer fire departments under one county agency, create a county fire warden position, pay volunteer firefighters a daily stipend and have the county pay for workers' compensation insurance costs.

It is a step in a larger plan to better coordinate fire agencies, officials said.

"We think it's a really good plan. We had very candid meetings (with local fire chiefs), and kept solidly moving forward and actually came to an agreement," said Ken Miller, the county's fire service coordinator.

One critic said he would like to see more of the plan, including where the money is coming from, before endorsing it.

Jeff Bowman of Escondido, a former San Diego fire chief who has criticized local agencies for underfunding wildfire prevention and response capabilities, said he also would like to see more consolidation of regional fire resources.

"I don't support anything that doesn't have funding behind it," he said.

Since 2005, the county has been working on a unification plan to better prepare the region for major wildfires, such as the ones that occurred in 2003 and 2007.

In October, five major wildfires burned more than 360,000 acres combined, destroyed more than 1,600 structures.

The new plan comes on the heels of a county grand jury report released last month that said the region was "woefully underprepared" for firestorms. It asked the county Board of Supervisors to approve and fund consolidation of the 65 fire agencies serving rural and unincorporated areas.

The grand jury's foreman, Michael Letendre, said he had not seen the county's new proposal, but said that "any step in that direction is a good step."

Last year, the Local Agency Formation Commission, a state agency that must endorse government reorganizations, approved a plan that would merge 28 backcountry fire stations and staff them with three-person crews at all times.

Lack of funding and opposition from fire agencies have delayed the plan.

Some fire chiefs of rural fire agencies, who said they worried the commission's plan would require them to surrender control of their departments, later offered an alternative plan that would provide fire protection through 14 fire stations for $3 million a year.

That would be much cheaper than the $26 million-a-year merger proposal approved by the commission.

The plan released Thursday is a combination of those two plans. The county spends about $9.5 million a year on fire services. The new plan would cost an additional $6 million a year, or a total of $15.5 million a year.

The new plan takes a three-step approach to reorganization.

First, volunteer fire agencies -- Sunshine Summit, Intermountain, Ranchita, Sheller Valley, Ocotillo Wells and De Luz -- would merge under one county service agency, which would allow them to access tax revenues to run the stations.

Later, four other fire service agencies -- Campo, Boulevard, San Pasqual and Mt. Laguna -- would merge under the county agency.

Finally, fire districts in San Diego, Pine Valley and Julian/Cuyamaca would be included under the county agency, possibly in 2011 or 2012.

The plan was presented to local fire officials, including the San Diego County Fire Chiefs Association and San Diego County Fire Districts Association, at a meeting May 1, according to the report. Fire officials who attended the meeting voted to support the proposal on a 24-3 vote, the report said.

One of the people who voted against the proposal was Carlsbad fire Chief Kevin Crawford. He said Thursday that he supports the idea of consolidating rural fire agencies, but voted against the proposal because he wanted more specific information about the plan.

Dawn Pettijohn, assistant chief of the San Pasqual Volunteer Fire Department, said she likes the county's new plan.

"It's a step in the right direction," Pettijohn said.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.