Two were fathers. One served in the Marines for 20 years. All three were American firefighters who had gone to Australia to battle the ferocious, deadly blazes — and all three died this week in a fiery crash on a hill near a wildlife sanctuary.

The men, all former service members in their 40s, worked for Coulson Aviation, a private company in Canada that has worked with firefighters in the United States and elsewhere to suppress fires. They died after taking off on one of the company’s large air tankers, a Lockheed C-130, on a mission to suppress the bush fires that have killed more than 30 people.

The crash took place in the mountains south of Canberra, Australia’s capital. Five firefighters had already been killed this fire season as millions of acres of land have been charred and more than 2,500 homes have burned down.

Here is what we know about the three men who died in the crash.

Ian H. McBeth, 44, Captain

A father of three from Montana

Mr. McBeth, of Great Falls, Mont., was a father of three who had served with both the Wyoming and Montana National Guards, Coulson Aviation said in a statement. He had flown C-130 planes for his entire career and spent many years fighting fires while in the military and with Coulson.