Does anyone have any news of when this will be added back into the game?

Pure guess but probably never. (Note: Taking into consideration my usual success at preciction, "never" may well equate to "will be added next week.")

The issue may be the how a player would expect a flamethrower to interact with the environment. A mining beam is magical and doesn't have a real world equivalent. A flamethrower does. The expection should be that trees, bushes, and even animals should burn, not disappear instantly in a puff of smoke. Animating a procedurally generated forest fire might be too much of a lift for current gen graphics engines.