Understanding the composition is just the first step of duplicating the process that made something. It can be as simple as melting two bars of different metals to etching elaborate patterns through complicated physical and chemical processes.

Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Hurtubise#Firepaste

There seems to be an easily-composable fire retardant substance that can be made from household materials and that's been discovered several times by tinkerers over the years.