Ronnie Raymond

For the transmutation project of a similar name, see F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M..

Ronald "Ronnie" Raymond, is the metahuman known as Firestorm. He worked as a structural engineer on the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator prior to its catastrophic accident. He was engaged to Caitlin Snow. After becoming a metahuman, he was referred to by various witnesses as a "man on fire" and "the burning man."

Early life
Ronnie worked at S.T.A.R. Labs as the lead structural engineer of the particle accelerator. While working on the project, he became romantically involved with Caitlin Snow and eventually got engaged to her.

The accident at S.T.A.R. Labs
On December 11, 2013, Ronnie attended the S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator's activation with his fiancée. The two talked about their honeymoon just prior the particle accelerator was turned on by Dr. Harrison Wells. When Cisco Ramon joked about how it was anticlimactic, Ronnie commented they would be in big trouble otherwise. Just as the scientists of S.T.A.R. Labs started their celebrations, the gravity was temporarily removed, and they heard a loud bang. Discovering a chain reaction caused by an anomaly in the core chamber, Ronnie, despite Caitlin's objections, and Cisco went down to the core to shut the particle accelerator down manually. Before going into the core chamber by himself, Ronnie told Cisco to shut down the blast door if he was not back in two minutes. Cisco protested, saying he would not be able to reopen it, but was convinced after Ronnie pointed out everyone in the building would be dead if the blast was not contained. Inside, he adjusted the system so the explosion would go upward instead of outward, but was unable to make it back to the door until the two minute deadline. Finding the blast door closed, he explained what he had done to Cisco over the radio, causing the other man to leave to reset the particle parameters to compensate. Caitlin, who had arrived at the core shortly before, begged Ronnie to find a way to get out, but he told her the door would have to stay closed to protect her. When the core exploded, he was presumed dead and his body vaporized.

Living on the streets
Unbeknownst to his friends and family, the explosion caused Ronnie to become a metahuman. His new abilities destabilized Ronnie's psyche, resulting in schizophrenic behavior. Unable to cope with his changing circumstances, Ronnie started living on the streets. His abilities were witnessed by various people, and Ronnie was referred to as "the burning man" on Iris West's blog. Around ten months after the S.T.A.R. Labs accident, Ronnie was accosted under the freeway by two muggers who taunted the shivering Ronnie by asking him if he was cold. Getting up, Ronnie demonstrated his abilities by sprouting flames from his hands and head, easily scaring off the muggers, and answered he was not cold. A few days before Christmas, Ronnie followed his fiancée Caitlin Snow to the Central City Mall garage. He approached her as she was getting into her car, but ran away when she noticed him. Caitlin caught up to Ronnie, but, unwilling to face her, he covered his hands and head in flames to scare her off and escaped the garage. Later, Caitlin found Ronnie with the help of Cisco Ramon by following the ionized particles Ronnie emitted. When Caitlin tried to talk to him, he denied he was Ronnie Raymond and warned her to get away. Caitlin insisted they needed to take him to S.T.A.R. Labs to remind him of who he is, causing Ronnie to take her face in his hands and whisper, "Firestorm." He distracted Caitlin and Cisco with flames, and escaped the two scientists. That night, Ronnie arrived at the S.T.A.R. Labs just as the Flash was fighting the Reverse-Flash, and saved the former by shooting flames at the yellow speedster. When the Reverse-Flash escaped, Ronnie warned Caitlin not to look for him before flying off by shooting fire from his hands.

The Truth Behind Firestorm
After the flash had battled and recaptured Hartley Rathaway he was placed back in the pipeline by Cisco, while Cisco was enjoying seeing Hartley back in prison Hartley was undeterred and stated that Cisco would let him out soon enough when Cisco questioned why, Hartley said it was because he knew where Ronnie was, what really happened to him and how to save him.

Eventually Cisco did comply with letting Hartley out but gave him handcuffs in case he tried to escape. Hartley takes him outside the building where they see a bomb shadow that belongs to Martin Stein, while Cisco is confused Hartley tells him that he will kick himself when he figures it out. Cisco thinks Hartley is full of it and starts to take him back inside, when he tries to get away Cisco fights him off and using a remote control is able to send a high pitched ringing through Hartley's implants which Cisco had previously adjusted. Hartley agrees to tell him everything but says he has to take the handcuffs off because it would conspicuous where they have to go next.

They go to Barry's lab at the CCPD where Hartley says they confiscated everything from S.T.A.R. Labs after the explosion like audio, video and traffic cam footage he also says that, he saw Stein that night because he walked right past him and that Stein specialized in transmutation, molecular transmography and quantum splicing or "taking 2 things and making them 1. The two then watch a video tape of Stein on the night of the explosion where, his eyes turn white and he is hit with an orange-yellow energy they pause the video and see that in the mass of energy is the face of Ronnie Raymond leading Cisco to correctly assume that the two were merged together by the explosion. Hartley then says that is why Ronnie is not himself because he is Martin Stein, he then escapes from Cisco.

Powers

 * Pyrokinesis: As Firestorm, Ronnie generates flames from his head and hands. He can deliver concussive blasts of flames from his hands.
 * Flight: Ronnie can soar through the sky at high speeds using the flames he generates from his hands as propulsion.

Skills

 * Expert engineer: Ronnie is an expert in engineering, as evidenced by the fact that he help Harrison Wells build the particle accelerator.

Trivia

 * Ronnie's body generates at least 430 cpm of radiation. That amount is enough to cause cancer in humans who are exposed over long periods.
 * In the DC comics, Ronnie Raymond became one half of the nuclear superhero Firestorm when he was combined with Dr. Martin Stein after an explosion at a nuclear facility. Similar to how the Flash tapped in to the Speed Force for his powers, Firestorm used the Firestorm Matrix to transmute elements.