Minnesota’s state fire marshal is set to release preliminary findings on Thursday from the investigation into the White Bear Lake house fire that killed NHL reporter Jessi Pierce and her three children.
The news conference is due to begin at 11am local time on September 24, six months after the blaze devastated the family’s home on Richard Avenue.
White Bear Lake fire killed mother and three children
Firefighters were called to the property shortly after 5.20am on Saturday, March 21, after neighbours reported flames coming through the roof of the single-family house.
The building was fully engulfed when crews arrived. Once the fire had been brought under control, firefighters found Pierce, also known as Jessi Hinrichs, dead inside alongside her children Hudson, eight, Cayden, six, and Avery, four. The family dog also died.
Pierce’s husband and the children’s father, Mike Hinrichs, was away from home at the time of the fire, according to CBS Minnesota.
Investigators said in the aftermath that there was no evidence the blaze had been deliberately started. However, the official cause has not previously been released.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s State Fire Marshal division and the White Bear Lake Fire Department are expected to present the preliminary results. State Fire Marshal Dan Krier, chief deputy fire marshal Amanda Swenson and White Bear Lake fire chief Greg Peterson are due to take part in the briefing.
Pierce covered the Minnesota Wild for NHL.com and was also known for her work in hockey broadcasting and podcasting. Her death prompted tributes from the Wild, the NHL and colleagues across the sport.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin said Pierce had been “always happy, always in a good mood, always a pleasure to deal with” and that the hockey community would miss her.
