We have developed and are employing a broadly tunable, KCI:Li color center laser (CCL) measurement apparatus to make line-of-sight absorption measurements on combusting systems, Our CCL offers a tuning range of 0.4 mu m, which permits spectral access to several combustion products and byproducts, and a linewidth of similar to 0.01 cm(-1), which is sufficiently narrow to resolve spectral features of interest to the experiment, Measurements in a cell containing an absorbing gas at room temperature have demonstrated our ability to determine both temperature and gas number density. We are presently using the laser system on a uniform, flat-flame burner apparatus with the goal of determining temperature and species concentrations in a flame. Results of measurements both on the cell and on the flame are presented.