The incident occurred at the home of Jessi Pierce, 37, in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, on Saturday (21). The city’s fire department was called after several neighbors reported seeing flames coming out of the roof.
When first responders arrived, the house was already completely engulfed in flames. The reporter, her three children — Hudson, Cayden and Avery — and the family dog were dead.
“Our hearts ache for everyone involved in this tragedy,” wrote fire chief Greg Peterson. The department will conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
Jessi’s death was mourned by the league in a statement on the NHL portal.
“The entire National Hockey League family sends its prayers and deepest condolences to the Pierce family for the loss of Jessi Pierce and her three young children.”
“Jessi loved our sport and was a valued member of the NHL.com team for a decade. We will miss her greatly,” the organization lamented.
A day before her death, Jessi Pierce went with her children to Cup and Cone, a family ice cream shop, to have dessert on Friday (20).
The reporter shared moments from the outing on her profile on X, formerly Twitter. Pierce’s children were seen eating ice cream with various toppings.
Jessi Pierce worked as a regular contributor for NHL.com over the past 10 seasons covering Minnesota Wild games at Casino Grand Arena and, at one point, also worked for the team itself.
The Minnesota Wild paid tribute to the reporter on its X profile. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to her family, friends and everyone who knew and loved them.”
She is survived by her husband, Mike Hinrichs, according to journalist Michael Russo.
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Source and images: X @jessi_pierce. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
bag(s) secured pic.twitter.com/vUSY0x9p9r
— Jessi Pierce (@jessi_pierce) March 20, 2026
