John Mott is a forklift driver at Irving Tissue in Dieppe, New Brunswick. John is being called a hero by his colleagues for helping put out a fire at a neighbouring business.

John Mott's commitment to safety heroic

Dieppe, New Brunswick – John Mott and his coworkers at Irving Tissue in Dieppe have been heroes throughout the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by continuing to provide essential household tissue products. The team has focused on keeping each other safe and healthy, while also delivering products customers need.

Around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 27, John received a call to help with a different type of crisis, a fire in the parking lot of a neighbouring business. 

“A Sunbury truck driver delivering parent rolls to our plant called and said he thought there was a fire next door. I didn’t think much of it until I got outside and there were no firetrucks,” said John, a forklift driver for Irving Tissue. “Because I didn’t have the neighbour’s phone number with me, I thought I better run over and investigate. They hadn’t noticed the fire at an outside piece of equipment. I got their attention by banging on their dock doors.”

John and the Sunbury driver Jarrod Brennan asked for extinguishers and tried to put the fire out. Every time they would put it out, it would start up again.

“I knew we needed to find a way to shut down the piece of equipment. It was dark and hard to see. Eventually someone was able to show me where electrical panel was. I took out my phone to light up the panel and pulled the lever to cut power to the equipment,” said John. “With the motor off, Jarrod was able to put the fire out with the extinguisher.”

John has worked for J.D. Irving companies for 25 years. Over that time, he has worked for three different companies.

“When I first moved to Moncton, I worked for Irving Personal Care and they gave us all fire extinguisher training, so it just came natural,” said John. “It’s one of those things like first aid, you come upon an accident scene or something it just takes over. You don’t think about it. You just do it. That type of safety training we’re provided helps everyday life, and not just at work. It helps everywhere.”

“My attitude is if our company is going to give us free training its always better to take. If you end up in a situation where you need it, you have an idea of what to do,” said John.

While John easily passes along credit to others, his colleagues are proud of his actions.

“John demonstrated an exceptional commitment to safety, concern for others, and leadership to handle situation,” said Michel Morin, Plant Manager for Irving Tissue Dieppe. “What John did was heroic and we’re very proud to have him work here at Irving Tissue Dieppe.”

About Irving Tissue

Irving Tissue is celebrating its 30^th anniversary in 2020. The company produces premium household store brand paper products for many of North America's top retailers, in addition to some of the top-selling tissue brands in the marketplace. It is part of Irving Consumer Products, one of North America's leading manufacturers of household paper and baby diaper products.