FROM just putting out fires and saving lives, a group of fire officers this week took time out to learn a totally different field of work — finance and budgeting.
About 20 officers from around the Northern Division were part of a two-day workshop that taught them how to budget and apply the costs to their operation.
Northern Fire Officer John Pillay said the training would educate his officers to better plan their work.
"This is an eye-opening program and will be so useful to us because our field of work is quite different from what we are learning on finance," he said.
"It will also apply to our individual lives for family budgeting and it will certainly bring a lot of difference to our work and back at home as well."
Conducted by the Fiji National University, the 'Finance for Non Finance' workshop has been held around the country for fire officers.
FNU training officer Deepika Narayan said it was aimed at teaching the officers more about basic finance.
She said the workshop included issues such as budgeting, internal control and audit and preparing an annual report.
"It is important for them to know how to deal with basic financial issues as it will help them during challenging times in the work area.
"It's a totally different area for them but I am amazed at the interest they have shown in the workshop."