An official in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, was caught wearing an expensive down coat when inspecting a blaze that killed five firefighters on Jan 2, sparking heated discussion online.

Shi Jiaxing, an official from Harbin's city leadership, was wearing a Moncler down jacket that costs more than 10,000 yuan ($1,610) in China, Huashang Daily reported on Wednesday.

Moncler is a luxury down jacket brand and has a store in Harbin.

Many netizens criticized his expensive taste, doubting whether he would have used his own money to buy such a luxurious brand that could cost two or three months' salary.

Shi defended himself saying that the jacket was bought from abroad by his daughter and the price wasn't as high as the netizens said.

Internet users also criticized that each of the killed firefighters would only get a compensation of 20,000 yuan from the government, which is only enough to two buy such coats.

Wu Wanbo, deputy director of Yushu civil affairs bureau, where one of the killed firefighter heroes was from, denied the claim, adding that each of the five firefighters would receive about 2 million yuan ($322,092) in compensation, New Culture Daily reported on Wednesday.

The compensation would consist of 800,000 yuan martyr pension, a 500,000 yuan insurance, and a one-time death pension. The 20,000 yuan that media reported as compensation was only an honorable sum for the family offered by the public security ministry.