Reflections on fighting smaller wildfires

For not particular reason I found myself reflecting on all the smaller wildfres that wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air fight. Depending on where the fire is and what agency has responsibility for fighting this fire there may or may not air resources available. 

I can not even begin to dive deep and find out all the smaller wildfires in the United States that are put out within a couple of hours of crews responding to the fire.  In many areas, the term initial attack is used when crews go to work immediately to try to quickly contain the fire. The National Wildfire Coordinating Group defines initial attack as "an aggressive action to put the fire out by the first resources to arrive, consistent with firefighter and public safety and values to be protected." A few years ago I saw a post from a wildland firefighter, I don't remember who or where, saying something to the effect that if initial attack is successful then the public will never know about this fire. That is, it may not reported in local or social media. Of course, nearby residents and business may know about such a fire.

My line of thought is that a small wildfire requires ground and in some cases aerial resources, albeit with lesser person power than a larger fire, to quickly contain the fire. the crews are there working the smallest fire to try to keep it small and containable within a couple of hours. They do this to keep us safe. 

I have sometimes written after a larger wildfire to thank the crews for containing the fire, but it has been quite a while, if ever that I have written to thank wildland firefighters working a small fire. Thank-you from the bottom of my heart.