Can The Force to be used to stop fire?

Question

I was looking at some crap quality merchandise on Amazon for our IT department's Cutthroat Christmas gift.

I noticed there was something called a Force Awakens FlameTrooper. This seems to be a Storm Trooper with a Flame Thrower (awesome).

Is there a Jedi force to thwart an attack of fire? It seems like it would be a lot harder to deflect flames than shots from a blaster and Force Deflection would be ineffective.

Also, is there any information about the Flame Thrower? It seems pretty low-tech. I would think they would have something shoot plasma or other higher-tech than spraying liquid gas on fire like we used in WWII. Plasma might be more difficult to deal with than a traditional flame thrower.

Answer 1

Force Telekinesis should work

Whether liquid gas on fire, or some sort of plasma, as you mention, flames are essentially very hot matter. There's no reason TK shouldn't work.

While I don't stake too much faith in Wookieepedia as a source, I would also note that it states:

Telekinesis, abbreviated TK, was a neutral ability that most Force-sensitives had which allowed them to manipulate physical objects, air currents, air pressure and air pockets, as well as creating and/or controlling physical impulses and forces, such as pressure, friction, kinetic energy, and even gravity, all with the power of the Force. _{(emphasis mine)}

which pretty much covers it.

There's no reference there for the basis of those statements, and probably some of it is from Legends canon. But certainly there are a lot of examples in the movies of Jedi moving some very heavy objects (boulders, X-wing starfighter, themselves) so hot gases should be pretty easy.

Answer 2

As the accepted answer states this is possible but now it is now confirmed as canon. In Episode 8 "The Redemption" of the first season of "The Mandalorian" the Child uses the force to stop flames from a Incinerator stormtrooper. It is not clear what force ability ("the magic hand thing") is used but it is possible to use the force to stop fire.

Answer 3

In The Force Awakens itself — in the same scene featuring the flame-thrower trooper, in fact — we see

Kylo Ren stop a blaster bolt in mid-air using the Force.

Presumably if it can do this, it can probably stop fire too.

Answer 4

Force push probably would do the trick

There are several instances in canon of a Force push or Force telekinesis being used to move gases. For example, Aayla Secura, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker used the Force to repel a torrent of poisonous gas in The Clone Wars (“The Zillo Beast Strikes Back”):

Most notably, in Shattered Empire, Luke Skywalker seemingly was able to use Force telekinesis to stand unharmed (and indeed, seemingly not even blown back) in the middle of a large, fiery explosion:

Note the explosion to both sides of Luke, and the untouched area around him.

Darth Sidious and Darth Vader used a similar technique to deflect an explosion:

Both guards immediately activated and tossed grenades; five seconds later the tunnel behind them reverberated with the sound of the explosions, lylek screams, and the rumble of falling stone. The blast wave roared from the confines of the tunnel. Vader and the Emperor used the Force to deflect the bulk of the wave from them, but the power of it drove the two Royal Guards face-first into the floor, their armor scraping along the stone.

_{Lords of the Sith}

And finally, Kanan Jarrus held back a portion of the flames from an explosion in Star Wars Rebels:

Not being as strong as Luke, he had…a little more difficulty.

There doesn’t seem to be any reason a Force push wouldn’t work on a flamethrower. The usual caveats apply, however: Force telekinesis in combat is harder than in isolation; how well it works depends on the skill and power of the Jedi, and how many other threats they have to deal with at the same time (i.e., it requires concentration). Other options, such as dodging, may be better, more practical, or indeed unavoidable. For example, Mace Windu opted to dodge Jango Fett’s flamethrower:

He faced Jango Fett—and found himself looking down the barrel of a stout flamethrower.

A burst of flames reached out for the Jedi Master, igniting his flowing robes. With both Dooku and the bounty hunter so close, and in such a vulnerable position, Mace just leapt away, lifting himself with the Force to fly out from the box and land in the arena. He pulled the burning robe from his back, throwing it aside.

_{Attack of the Clones}

There are even other options

While (short of mere evasion), deflecting a flamethrower stream with a Force push may seem the logical choice for a moderately powerful Jedi, there are other ways of dealing with flamethrowers.

A Force user could opt to use the Force to deflect the gun itself, as Ahsoka Tano did with a blaster in the Clone Wars episode “Wookiee Hunt.” It is possible that, with sufficient power, a Jedi could even conceivably absorb the energy, as Yoda was able to do with Force lightning (and which, rather than Force push, might be what Luke is doing in one of the previous examples). And of course, for a skilled (and fast) enough Jedi, there’s always the obvious option: move the person shooting the fire!