Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company members recently broke ground for their fire substation expansion project at 249 Berkshire Road.

Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead said it is expected that the expansion project would be completed by the end of April. The groundbreaking occurred on October 24. The project will more than double the size of the building.

Sandy Hook, which is one of five local volunteer fire companies, is the only company with two firehouses — a main station on Riverside Road near Dickinson Drive and the substation on Berkshire Road (Route 34) near Nighthawk Lane.

Currently Sandy Hook’s Engine 442 and its trailer used for fluid spill cleanup supplies are housed at the substation. When the expansion project is completed, the same fire vehicles will continue to be stored there, but within larger quarters.

The addition will be constructed to the rear of the existing building. The addition’s dual garage bay doors will face Nighthawk Lane, Chief Halstead said.

The two garage bays where the vehicles are now stored will be converted for other uses, including office space, a day room, a shower, an additional restroom, and a kitchenette.

In August, Planning and Zoning Commission members unanimously approved an expansion project.

The substation, which was built in the late 1960s on a 2.4-acre site in a R-2 (Residential) zone, is no longer large enough for the fire company’s needs, according to Chief Halstead.

The fire company plans to expand the existing fire substation by 2,000 square feet, increasing the building’s size from 1,568 square feet to 3,568 square feet.  The building addition would measure 50 feet wide by 40 feet deep.

The town’s Capital Improvement Plan for the current fiscal year designates $375,000 in town funding for expanding the fire substation.