Just a week after Erin Napier and her husband, Ben Napier, revealed their new HGTV show, Home Town: Inn This Together, the hotel at the center of the series has been damaged in a fire.
Erin took to her Instagram on Tuesday (August 26) to reveal the devastating news, telling her followers that the Heirloom Hotel in Laurel, Mississippi, had suffered severe fire damage. She included a photo showing smoke billowing from the building’s roof as firefighters worked to extinguish the flames.
“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,” Erin wrote. “Before they ever even welcomed the first guest. Praise God, no one was inside.”
She continued, “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.”
Last week, Erin announced the spin-off series Home Town: Inn This Together, which will see Erin and Ben “join forces with their family and friends Jim, Mallorie, and Josh to restore a dilapidated 1930 Kress building in downtown Laurel, Mississippi.”
However, the show’s future is now in doubt due to the fire.
“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,” Erin wrote. “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. He always knows the way, even when we don’t.”
She later posted an update on her Instagram Story, sharing how the town of Laurel is “grieving” and how her “best friends and family are suffering.”
The hotel’s official Instagram page also posted about the heartbreaking news, promising they wouldn’t give up despite the setback.
“The weight of this reality is hard to put into words,” the post read. “It’s not about the loss of wood, brick, or paint. It’s about the grief we feel for the countless hands that have worked tirelessly over the past year, breathing life back into this 25,000 square foot space. Every hammer swing, every brushstroke, every late night—this building has been a true labor of love.”
“There is history here worth preserving, a story still unfolding, and a town we love too much to give up on,” the post continued. “Yes, today is heavy, but we still hold our heads up with hope. We are determined to keep going, whatever it takes. For our neighbors, for our children and theirs, for the generations yet to walk these streets, we will persevere.”
Home Town, New Season, Early 2026, HGTV
Home Town: Inn This Together, 2026, HGTV