This dataset supports the findings of the publication described here: Fires are a key driver of changes to physical landscapes, biogeochemical cycles, and climate on a variety of spatial and temporal scales. In particular, the aerosol particles emitted in fire smoke influence regional and global climate by altering the atmospheric energy budget via interactions with solar radiation and by modifying clouds. In this study, we quantify the aerosol radiative impacts on climate from changing the location and strength of pre‐industrial fires for four different emission representations. We find that changing only the location of pre‐industrial fires contributes an additional 25% uncertainty to the estimated range of radiative impacts calculated. Thus, it is important to consider not only changes in the magnitude of fires, but in which regions past fires are occurring when estimating human‐induced changes to climate and the Earth System.