United States native William Jennings jumped at the chance to come to Australia to help protect people, homes and wildlife from raging bushfires devastating parts of Queensland and New South Wales.

In his spare time, Will — as he was known to his friends and family — wanted to learn to surf and advance his thermal camera skills he had been developing as part of his mechanical engineering course at Northeastern University.

"He was so loving, he was the best son ever … he just brought so much joy into our lives," his mum Denise said.

The 22-year-old, who spent his free time photographing landscapes across the US, had been in Australia for 11 days when his life was cut short in a "preventable" plane crash in November 2023.

He was on a firefighting surveillance plane, owned by Victorian co

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