FALLBROOK - San Diego fire Chief Tracy Jarman blasted the county Monday for not having more firefighting equipment and personnel to cope with a major emergency such as the recent wildfires.

Jarman said during a congressional hearing held in Fallbrook on the October wildfires that her department may have to "reconsider the commitment of our firefighting resources to other areas of San Diego County."

"You need to be aware that historically, the County of San Diego has and still lacks the firefighting resources necessary to protect its residents and visitors during significant firestorms," Jarman said.

San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts, who was one of the panelists at the hearing along with Jarman and other fire officials, said the county has made significant progress addressing fire emergencies since the 2003 wildfires by implementing a reverse 911 calling system and adopting stricter building codes.

Roberts and Supervisor Bill Horn also recently proposed an idea to buy as many as 50 fire engines and fire trucks to place around San Diego County for emergencies. The supervisors are expected to ask their staff at their meeting today to research ways to fund the proposal.

The federal hearing in Fallbrook was held by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform - which includes Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Solana Beach; and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista - as a fact-finding discussion on the Southern California wildfires.

The panelists included activists, state and federal officials, as well as the fire chiefs for Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Five major wildfires, which began in late October, burned more than 360,000 acres combined, destroyed more than 1,600 structures and killed at least 10 people, officials said.

During the hearing, Jarman said the county could benefit from the long-debated idea of merging rural fire agencies. The merger plan would stock 28 backcountry fire stations with three-person crews at all times to cover 1.4 million acres, stretching east from Fallbrook, Valley Center and Ramona.

"I believe a county fire department would minimize the potential for duplication of services, it would provide for more efficient and effective use of resources and equitable distribution of resources throughout the region," she said.

Former San Diego fire Chief Jeffrey Bowman told the panel that he also supports a unified county fire department.

"Volunteer agencies do a great job, but they are volunteers," Bowman said. "They are not adequately staffed to handle any kind of major event."

Roberts said consolidating the volunteer departments is no panacea.

"We are moving towards some consolidation, but if you walk away from this thinking that somehow a county fire department is going to take care of the issue, I think your time will not have been well spent," Roberts told the panel.

Issa and Bilbray also cast doubt on the consolidation plan, saying that most of the county's land is overseen by state and federal agencies, such as parks and American Indian reservations. Bilbray pointed out that state and federal agencies oversee about 51 percent of the county's land.

"I think that the real issue here is proportional responsibility, and we (the federal government) bear more responsibility in San Diego County," Bilbray said.

However, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio and the committee chairman, said the county should pay more for its own fire protection.

Kucinich said that San Diego County spends far less on fire services than Los Angeles and Orange counties - just $8 million, compared to $800 million and $250 million a year respectively.

"If that in fact is the case, I think the comparison is stark, even with the fact that you have 51 percent of the land owned by the state and federal governments," Kucinich said.

Roberts said the $8 million figure did not represent the full fire-funding picture in the county. He said the county has spent about $130 million from various funding sources since 2003 to improve its fire emergency response, including the purchase of two firefighting helicopters.

He also asked whether Jarman's comments meant that her department would break away from its mutual aid agreement with the county.

Jarman said the city fire department would have to consider its responsibilities to its residents during an emergency such as the wildfires.

"The mutual aid day-to-day would still be there," she said. "It's when the firestorms come through that I'd have to consider how much I can lend to other cities given the limited resources we have."

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