NHL Reporter Jessi Pierce Published Final Photos of Her Children Hours Before Her Passing

Just hours after sharing happy family moments from a spring outing, the final images posted by the well-known sports reporter took on a heartbreaking new meaning.

Tragedy struck White Bear Lake, Minnesota, on March 21, 2026, when a house fire claimed the lives of NHL reporter Jessi Pierce and her three children, Hudson, Cayden, and Avery Hinrichs. Authorities discovered the victims inside their home following the blaze.

The incident came only hours after Pierce posted cheerful photos of her children on social media, and that timing makes the final post especially difficult to look away from.

A Tragic Morning in White Bear Lake

The White Bear Lake Fire Department issued a media release stating that crews responded to a house fire at 5:26 a.m. on Saturday. The blaze broke out at a single-family residence located on the 2100 block of Richard Avenue.

Neighbors alerted 911 after seeing flames bursting through the roof, and they warned dispatchers that the family was likely still trapped inside.

When emergency teams reached the scene, they found the house completely overwhelmed by fire and started fighting the flames immediately. Firefighters eventually discovered an adult, three children, and a dog inside the residence; unfortunately, none survived.

The fire department noted that several local agencies assisted at the scene, including the White Bear Lake Police Department, Lakeview EMS, and various neighboring fire crews.

Currently, the Minnesota State Fire Marshal's Office is spearheading the investigation to determine what started the fire.

Officials added that more information would be released on the department's social media pages as it becomes available.

But as devastating as those details are, what happened just before that morning has made this story even more painful for many people following it.

The Post That Now Feels Different

On March 20, Pierce took to X to share photos of her children during what appeared to be a lighthearted family stop for treats. She captioned the post, "Cup and cone opening day 3/20/26."

The photos captured a very ordinary, very happy moment, which is exactly what makes them so powerful now. One image showed a long line for the food stand, which was apparently being inaugurated that day.

Another photo showed her two boys and her daughter enjoying ice cream, all appearing relaxed and blissful. In a separate image, one of her boys was seen biting into a sandwich.

There was nothing dramatic in those pictures at all, and maybe that is what hits the hardest. They looked like snapshots from a simple family day, the kind of photos people post without ever imagining they will become the last public memories of loved ones.

The Victims: A Family Loved by All

As previously reported, authorities did not immediately identify the victims, but by Saturday evening, heartbreak spread online as multiple outlets confirmed their names.

Neighbor Julie Andrus, who had lived next door to the Pierces for seven years, described the family as "so nice" and recalled the children always playing outside.

Of the fire itself, she told the Star Tribune: "We were sleeping. By the time the cops woke us, it was like a tornado of smoke."

Who Was Jessi Pierce?

Pierce, also known by her married name Jessica Hinrichs, was 37 years old and had spent 10 seasons writing for NHL.com.

She was a constant presence at Minnesota Wild home games, often bundled up against the press box chill at Grand Casino Arena, and was the kind of person who made everyone around her feel seen, whether it was their first meeting or their 50th.

Beyond her writing, she hosted and featured on hockey podcasts at SKOR North, carving out a reputation across Minnesota as someone who genuinely loved the sport and the people in it. Players, coaches, and front office staff alike knew her by name.

Colleagues consistently described her as someone who brought energy and openness to a beat that runs on trust.

Tributes Pour In from the Hockey World

By Sunday morning, social media was flooded with tributes from colleagues and fans.

Veteran reporter Michael Russo of The Athletic shared a long, emotional tribute remembering Pierce as "the most vibrant person — the life of the party, always with a smile on her face."

Russo added that Pierce "simply loved covering the Wild and hockey throughout Minnesota," calling her "the greatest mother who did everything she could to bring joy to her sweetest kids."

Russo's tribute also turned to Pierce's husband, Mike Hinrichs, who was not home when the fire broke out, making him the sole survivor of his immediate family. "My heart breaks for Mike for the loss of his wife and children and Jessi's family, friends, and colleagues for this unimaginable loss."

Russo had seen Pierce just the morning before the fire, at Wild practice, wearing her Iowa State sweatshirt and already counting down the hours until the Cup and Cone outing with her kids.

"I have literally NEVER met anybody that had a way of being EVERYBODY's friend," he wrote.

He ended with words that echoed across hockey's tight-knit media world: "Life can be unbearably unfair sometimes, and it’s impossible to make sense of this tragedy."

A Community in Mourning

Within days, those closest to the family launched a GoFundMe campaign to help Hinrichs cover funeral costs and steady himself financially through the grief ahead. By Monday, donors had contributed more than $62,000 of the $80,000 goal.

The campaign painted a picture of a woman who poured herself into motherhood, driven by a need to make every day count for her children. Each of the three kids had a personality all their own, the post noted, but all three shared their mother's appetite for fun and adventure.

As Russo summed up what the broader hockey community was sitting with: "This hockey community lost a wonderful, energetic, and [one-of-a-kind] voice and storyteller and Grade A person." The press box, he said, will never quite be the same.