In the climax of episode 10, Barry goes up against Heatwave and Captain Cold simultaneously. During the fight he and Wells determine that having Barry take the brunt of the attacks is what will eventually win him the fight. My question is, why did the flames from Heatwave's gun not burn Barry or his uniform? The uniform is not fire proof but rather fire and friction resistant as stated by Cisco. Also, earlier in the episode it's made clear that Heatwave's weapon produces a large amount of heat and fire. So how did Barry escape without any burn marks and with his suit in tact?
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My guess is that since it's fire-resistant, and he's constantly moving, the suit just isn't catching fire quick enough.– phantom42Feb 19, 2015 at 21:12
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At the end though, the two attacks had actually stopped him from moving which is how they were able to cancel each other out.– RobertFeb 19, 2015 at 21:14
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Why did the fire not burn the firefighter suit? Because it did its job.– user1027Feb 19, 2015 at 22:53
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A heat resistant suit is not designed to withstand temperatures with that intensity. That's like expecting your water resistant watch to continue working under water.– RobertFeb 20, 2015 at 0:42
1 Answer
Barry himself has an "aura" that protects his skin from heat & friction. This hasn't been touched on very often in the series, but is has been mentioned once or twice. His suit, while resistant to heat & friction, is nowhere near as impervious as Barry's skin. In fact, as shown below, the upper torso and arms of the suit are quite charred immediately after the scene where Cold and Heatwave's weapons cancel each other out.
As seen in S1E14, "Fallout", both Barry AND his suit are far more susceptible to chemical burns such as the acid rocket used by General Eiling's men. The suit shows much more damage afterwards than it did from any fire-based attack in previous episodes, and Barry himself ends up nursing a large chemical burn under the worst area.