A demonstration of the high variability of chars produced from wood in bushfires

► There is great variability in the composition of the char produced in natural fires. ► The “ring current” technique indicates condensation of aromatics in chars. ► Bulking of char samples can mask the inter-particle heterogeneity of chars. ► Char samples appear to preserve a record of fire conditions. ► Care must be taken when interpreting char composition heterogeneity.