An experimental measurement is developed to measure the gas temperature field in a flame spreading downward over thermally thin filter paper. A flame stabilizer apparatus with a linear motion control system using a PID controller is developed to convert the downward spreading flame to a stationary flame. A two dimensional linear motion is developed to measure gas temperature field with fine wire thermocouples. Different sizes of K type thermocouple have been tested. Temperature contour plots were generated for both the downward spreading flame and the stationary flame, which showed comparable results. The results were also compared with visible flame images.