REDDING, Calif. — Completed in April, the Redding Air Attack Base was revamped to simultaneously load up to five tankers, doubling aerial firefighting capabilities across the Western United States.

Fast forward three months to a very busy fire season, and the expanded base is already paying dividends.

“Saturday [July 27, 2024] was the air base’s biggest push yet. Crews loaded 240,638 gallons of fire retardant in about an 8-hour period. That’s 76,000 gallons more than previous records,” said Kelly Mathis, Redding Tanker Base manager for the USDA Forest Service.

Redding Air Attack Base, also known as RAAB, can now simultaneously service five large air tankers — which carry 2,000 to 4,000 gallons of fire retardant or water each.

Crews can fill these in roughly 12 minutes, and smaller 1,000-gallon air tankers in just three minutes.

In addition, a backup generator capable of powering the entire base provides zero power interruption in the event of a power outage, providing nonstop aerial resources for wildfire attack.

And Saturday was a testament to the increased capabilities these upgrades have provided.

“We loaded over 200,000 gallons of retardant onto 12 tankers in roughly eight hours. Had the pressing need not moved south, we would have continued to break records that day,” said RAAB Forest Technician Jaff Engelkes. “Being able to provide support to the troops on the ground has exponentially increased. The capacity to produce, load and send more aircraft and the increased safety for aircraft in and out of the base gives us the ability to provide support as wildfire activity continues to grow.”