> it first clicked for me that fire burns gasses, not solids I guess the materials would have some outgassing caused by the heat, but the flashover usually tra

> it first clicked for me that fire burns gasses, not solids I guess the materials would have some outgassing caused by the heat, but the flashover usually travels over partially-combusted particulate matter suspended in the air. Hotter fires have less smoke + soot, because they consume more of the fuel before it is carried away by convection. You can easily replicate this experimentally: light a candle, extinguish it, then light it again by applying a flame to the smoke emitted from the wick. [0] Certainly for a standard in-home fireplace fire, most of the outgassing from the fuel is actually water vapour. [0]: https://youtu.be/C5eTn5d0cvg https://youtu.be/C5eTn5d0cvg