State fire officials have ruled the deadly blaze that killed NHL reporter Jessi Pierce and her three young children accidental, tracing it to overheating electrical equipment in a home office.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s State Fire Marshal released its findings Thursday, April 24, concluding the March fire at the family’s White Bear Lake residence started with an electrical source. Pierce, who spent the last decade covering the Minnesota Wild for NHL.com, was 38. Her children — sons Hudson, 8, Cayden, 6, and daughter Avery, 4 — also perished, along with the family dog.
The investigation determined the fire originated in a room converted into an office, where electrical equipment overheated. The timeline released by authorities painted a harrowing picture of how rapidly conditions deteriorated.
“The smoke alarm closest to the bedrooms would have activated approximately four minutes after the fire began,” the State Fire Marshal’s press release stated.
“About five minutes after the fire started, conditions along the primary escape path would have become almost impossible to navigate.”
State Fire Marshal Dan Krier, who responded to the scene, addressed the limits of the investigation’s consolation. “There is no investigation finding that can change the loss this family is living with,” he said.
“But we hope this investigation can help bring some understanding to what happened and remind all of us how quickly a residential fire can develop. Sometimes there may be very little time to react, which is why every second matters.”
Mike Hinrichs, Pierce’s husband and the children’s father, released a statement Thursday alongside the report’s publication. He has been the surviving family member throughout the months-long investigation.
“My world came crashing down when the lives of my beloved wife, Jessi, and our three beautiful children, sons Hudson and Cayden and daughter Avery, were all lost to me forever in the horrible fire that destroyed our home,” he wrote.
“This truly unfathomable loss and all-consuming grief is with me every day and will be forever with every breath God allows me to take.”
Hinrichs turned much of his statement toward gratitude for those who responded and supported him. He thanked the first responders and firefighters who worked the morning of the fire, as well as the White Bear Lake fire investigators and the State Marshal’s team for their continuing efforts.
“My deepest thanks and gratitude go out to all those in the community that have supported me and our other family members in this darkest of times,” he added.
“Your kindness has not gone unnoticed, even if we have been too numb to adequately acknowledge your compassion and sympathy.”
Hinrichs singled out the Minnesota Wild organization for special thanks. Pierce had covered the team throughout her NHL reporting career, establishing herself as a prominent voice in hockey journalism over her ten years with NHL.com.
The March fire drew widespread attention across sports media and the hockey community, with colleagues and fans mourning Pierce’s death and the loss of her children. The investigation’s conclusion of an accidental electrical cause rules out arson, which authorities had not suspected but which the formal finding now closes as a possibility. The speed of the fire’s progression — with escape routes becoming nearly impassable within five minutes — underscores the dangers of residential electrical fires and the narrow window for response.
The State Fire Marshal’s office has used the findings to emphasize fire safety awareness, noting that residential fires can escalate with devastating speed even when smoke alarms function properly.
A fundraiser launched to support Hinrichs has drawn contributions from across the hockey world and beyond in the weeks since the tragedy.
The Minnesota Wild face the Vegas Golden Knights in their next home game at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.