Invoking the names of some of California’s most devastating fires ― the Carr Fire, Camp Fire and Dixie Fire ― officials gathered in Redding on Thursday to mark the completion of an expanded air base in Redding they say will be the only one of its kind in the world for battling wildfires. The new base for reloading and refueling air attack planes used to fight wildfires will more than double the number of firefighting aircraft it can accommodate and the amount of fire retardant that can be loaded on aircraft, officials said Thursday. …Before the expansion, the air base had the capacity to only fill two air tankers simultaneously. Officials expect to increase the amount of fire retardant used at the air base. In 2021, the air base used 3 million gallons of fire retardant. With the expansion, that will increase to a capacity of 6 million gallons, according to the forest service.