Smother the fire. If it's paper, don't bother blackening every bit before you just put out the fire with the back of your shovel or a boot or whatever. Some people have a metal box like an old grill and just shut the door to cut off the air flow and toast the paper good. If it's wood, get it...
Burning it to ash would add carbon to the atmosphere. Charring and burying adds carbon to the soil and improves soil structure. It's a quick version of terra preta.
I'm in South America now. I'm eating less meat and now solely local meat. It's cheap ($4 for a T-bone steak) but not tender, so my cooking and prep methods are adapting. The slow cooker is working on some bones now. I eat a lot of eggs and look forward to when these chicks reach laying age...