SAN DIEGO -- San Diego-area officials should give high priority to consolidating the county's various fire departments into a single entity, according to a report released by a fire-safety group Tuesday.

"Many of the fire agencies within the San Diego region have tended to work as individual units," the report by the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum states. "Since each one is a separate entity, they tend to focus on their own special needs."

Creating a single firefighting agency for the region was one of nearly a dozen issues explored by the group in its 13-page report.

The group, comprised of various current and former firefighters and policy experts, was chaired by former San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Chief Jeff Bowman.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is considering a proposal to establish a countywide fire agency, but some have questioned where the money will come from to accomplish the task.

It would cost $26.5 million annually to consolidate the county's 13 fire agencies and 28 stations under the proposal by the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission.

San Diego is the only county in the state without its own fire agency.

Among the San Diego Regional Fire Safety Forum's other recommendations are the immediate purchase of 50 fire engines to "bridge the gap" while state resources are mobilized during an emergency.

"Since two-thirds of every fire department's suppression staff are off-duty at any given time, a plan needs to be created to equip an off-duty division with apparatus to deploy in the event of a major incident," the report states.

It also explores fire-resistant building codes, better defensible spaces around homes, mutual aid resources, the acquisition of more firefighting aircraft and technological improvements.

The recommendations mirrored those made by a Blue Ribbon Fire Task Force convened by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger following the devastating wildfires in 2003, and again last October.

Sources of funding have yet to be identified.

A committee, co-chaired by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and county Supervisor Ron Roberts, has been set up to identify the region's greatest firefighting needs and how to pay for them.

October's wildfires destroyed 1,700 homes, scorched 370,000 acres, killed 10 people and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands across San Diego County.