We are all moved by the 19 firefighters who died in Arizona fighting a wildfire. They are being deeply mourned by their city and the nation, and our prayers go out to them. As members of the elite firefighting team, the Granite Mountain Interagency Hotshot Crew, they regularly put themselves into danger in order to keep others safe. They are rightfully being called heroes.
Being a hero is not simply about the final act of our life, no matter how praiseworthy. Rather, being a hero is the total accumulation of good deeds we do over our entire lifetime. Our focus must be on each positive, elevating act (mitzvah), not on a single elevating moment.
Tradition puts this idea into the mouth of Rabbi Yehudah HaNassi who teaches in Avot 2:1: Be careful about how you do a small mitzvah, just as if it were a big one, for you do not know the reward of mitzvot.
Everything we do is important, no matter how small or how big we perceive the act to be, and often its impact remains hidden from us.