Volunteer firefighters and the mayor of Kinnelon say the Department of Environmental Protection is stonewalling their efforts for a new firehouse.

Fire officials say their department needs a new facility to keep up to date with developing technology. Volunteer firefighter and Kinnelon Mayor Glenn Sisco says the department?s fire trucks are too big to fit in the current 60-year-old building. However, he says applications to develop the property have gone unanswered by DEP officials.

The firehouse sits on a watershed protected under the Highlands Act. In November, the town spent nearly $800 on an application to gain exemption from the environmental legislation.

Sisco says he could build a firehouse that meets the station?s needs within six months, but there has been no response from the DEP in the eight months since the application was submitted.

?We know what we want, we know what we need, but we can't seem to get any response from the DEP,? says Sisco.

News 12 New Jersey could not get a response from the DEP.