Ben and Erin Napier suffered a devastating loss after a fire broke out at the hotel they renovated for a new “Home Town” spinoff series. HGTV shared a brief statement about the incident, as fans wonder whether or not “Home Town: Inn This Together” will now air.
Erin Napier Shared Details About Hotel Fire
On August 26, a fire broke out at the Heirloom Hotel in Laurel, Mississippi. The Napiers had renovated the space with their family and friends, Jim and Mallorie Rasberry and Josh and Emily Nowell.
Just days earlier, HGTV announced that the hotel renovation would be featured in “Home Town: Inn This Together.”
Erin took to Instagram to share the sad news following the fire. “After so much celebration last week, today my best friends @malraz, Jim, and @joshuanowell lost their labor of love, their dream, @theheirloom.us hotel in an early morning fire,” she wrote in the caption.
The HGTV star continued, “Before they ever even welcomed the first guest. Praise God, no one was inside. We held each other and watched while the brave fire fighters from the Laurel FD worked for hours to get it under control.”
“Today feels like a funeral. But I know these people. They won’t give up here,” she wrote.
Erin noted, “I don’t know what will happen next or if you’ll ever get to see this @hgtv show now. I don’t know much of anything. Pray for my friends and family, please. It is hard to explain how this reverberates through our town and its progress in many ways.”
“But I know God has a plan for this setback,” she added. “He always knows the way, even when we don’t.”
HGTV Speaks Out Following Heirloom Hotel Fire
While Erin indicated it’s unclear if the HGTV show will air, the network released a brief statement following the fire.
“We are grateful for first responders who were able to quickly contain this fire and that there were no reported injuries,” HGTV spokesperson Chelsey Riemann said in an August 27 statement to USA Today.
The spokesperson didn’t give an update on the show’s status, however.
Fans lit up the comments of Erin’s post with messages of hope that HGTV will still air the show.
“We want to see the good come from tragedy and ‘set backs’ that are really just launching pads to something better,” one fan noted.
Another fan wrote, “Hopefully they show the entire reno, the damage from the fire, and them rebuilding. What a comeback that will be.”
Others agreed, writing, “Exactly, this will be HUGE ratings if aired” and “This sounds like such a great idea!”
“This is so sad. I hope @hgtv will still let the show air,” one fan commented. “Let us see the love and hard work, because even through the devastation, beauty comes from the ashes. God is in this story and I truly hope we get to see it from beginning to the beauty God has for them.”
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