Fire Fighter Monks

Are these firefighters disguised as monks ? No they are not firefighters but are real monks. These monks are from Mount Putou in China who have been trained in fire fighting skills. Mount Putou is one of the 4 sacred moutains in Chinese Buddhism Having monks who are skillful in fire fighting as many of the temples in Mount Putou are made of wood and vulenerable to fire. Pictures shown below were taken from a fire safety promotion program held in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province a few months ago.