Comparison

A pyrokinetic esper can, in general, generate a great deal of heat. Certain types of pyrokinetic can generate combustible IPD-based "pseudomatter" that allows them to create and throw fireballs, or, say, patterns of fire in the air. In general, however, both types are generally limited in that they can set things on fire only if those things are generally capable of being set on fire.

This guy can apparently set concrete on fire. Within a few seconds of his weird spell, tiny, eerie-looking flames have begun to appear in the stairwell as Index and I run down it, and while they're still only as big as a lit match, they're steadily growing larger. And the air's steadily growing hotter. And they're spreading faster than we can run.

Magic surpasses science in certain fields indeed.