This lady became the first woman to be appointed as chief of a fire station in Lintas, reported Projek MM. Agustavia Joe Guasi was appointed on 1st August 2019, and she broke the record as the first woman in Sabah to become a chief in a male-dominated industry.
The mother of four said that she dreamt of becoming a career woman and didn’t expect that luck would be on her side as she landed the position. Agustavia, 37, was quoted by Bernama as saying,
“I got my recruitment training at the Sabah Fire and Rescue Academy in 2001 for a year. I completed my training in 2002 and was placed in the training department until 2007.”
“I was then moved to the Operation and Rescue department for Sabah from 2007 till 2009. A year after that, I was placed here (Lintas Fire Station) but before that, I was working at Sabah Centre of Operating from 2011 until July 2019.”
Source: Projek MM
Despite her busy schedule, Agustavia still has time to pursue a long-distance undergraduate degree in public administration at UUM (University Utara Malaysia). As a dedicated firefighter, she has been a part of many operations and some of the most prominent ones are mentioned below:
- Earthquake Operation at Mount Kinabalu
- Drought Operation in Papar in 2015
- Squatter house fire cases around Kota Kinabalu
Initially, Agustavia didn’t think of becoming a firefighter because her knowledge about the job was limited. However, after joining, she realised that a firefighter does more than putting out fires and saving road accident victims, and she eventually fell in love with the job.
She admitted that being a firefighter isn’t easy and it’s definitely not getting any simpler as days pass by. True!
Source: Bernama
Agustavia then shared some pearls of wisdom for people, especially girls, who wish to become a firefighter. She shared that they have to be mentally and physically prepared in order to become a firefighter. She finally said,
“Some women are afraid of the fire, but some become the fire themselves.”
#GirlPower
We hope that Agustavia will continue to grow in her career, and we wish her all the best as she takes on her new position. Godspeed, Agustavia!
Also read: This “Iron Woman” is the FIRST Female Underwater Welder in Malaysia
