While the chances of finding actual documentation explaining reasons for choosing the salamander as a mascot or logo may not be possible, what is known is that the salamander has the alleged ability to live in fire.

The foundation of the salamander’s fire resistant powers may be based on the fact that a real salamander secretes a milky juice from the pores of its body when it is irritated. This could possibly defend the amphibian for a few moments if put in a fire. Salamanders hibernate and often hide in hollow trees or wood piles in the winter, where they coil themselves up and remain in a torpid state until the spring. For this reason, they would often be found hiding within the firewood, and when the wood was added to the fire the hidden salamander would wake up with only enough time to put forth all of its faculties for its defense. This is more than likely the reason why the salamander got the reputation of being impervious to fire.

The first known reference to the salamander and insulation was when Marco Polo referred to a handkerchief given to him from the Tartans to have been woven from “Salamander wool”, when in fact it was woven from asbestos fibers.