Private equity ends Emergency Reporting software, for the New York Times
February 23, 2026

Adrian Mintz is a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by more than a quarter of fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, seen here in Station 1 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and seven times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will likely not be able to afford the replacement software.
Adrian Mintz, a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, uses Emergency Reporting to look at a map view of historical incident data in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and sevent times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will not be able to afford the replacement software.

Adrian Mintz is a volunteer firefighter in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, and a software developer who built a software suite called Emergency Reporting that was used by more than a quarter of fire departments around the US to collect data about their operations and track maintenance of their equipment.

When his business partner wanted to exit the business, Mintz couldn’t buy his partner’s share and the software was sold to a private equity company who sold the software to competitor ESO. Federal standards for emergency data changed on Dec. 31, 2025, and ESO said they would not be updating Emergency Reporting software to work with the new standards, effectively forcing fire departments to move to their more expensive and less fully-featured software.

Mintz estimates that it will cost fire departments between 4 and 7 times more to have the same functionality using ESO software as they had under his now-discontinued Emergency Reporting software, a cost he feels many small departments around the country will not be able to afford.

Photographed for the New York Times. Thanks to Stephen for the call!

Adrian Mintz, a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, opens tool storage compartments on a fire engine in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and sevent times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will not be able to afford the replacement software.
Adrian Mintz is a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by more than a quarter of fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, seen here in Station 1 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz is seen here in the department's Radio Room, where incident reports are filed. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and seven times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will likely not be able to afford the replacement software.
Close of the badge of Adrian Mintz, a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, seen here in Station 1 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and sevent times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will not be able to afford the replacement software.
Close of the coffee mug of Adrian Mintz, a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, seen here in Station 1 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and sevent times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will not be able to afford the replacement software.
Close of the radio of Adrian Mintz, a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, seen here in Station 1 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and sevent times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will not be able to afford the replacement software.
Adrian Mintz, a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, demonstrates the use of ESO software on a tablet in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and sevent times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will not be able to afford the replacement software.
Adrian Mintz is a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department and co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by more than a quarter of fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules, seen here in Station 1 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and seven times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will likely not be able to afford the replacement software.
The helmet of Adrian Mintz, a Captain in the City of Sedro-Woolley Fire Department, rests on a shelf in the Station 1 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025. Mintz is co-founder of Emergency Reporting, software used by fire departments around the country for recording incident data and managing equipment inventory and maintenance schedules. Mintz and his co-founder sold a majority stake in Emergency Reporting to Vista Private Equity in 2019, who then sold the software to ESO, another provider of fire and EMS software, in 2021. As federal standards for emergency incident data change at the end of 2025, ESO has said that Emergency Reporting will not be updated and thus will cease to function. ESO's own software will provide some of the same functionality as Emergency Reporting, but at a cost between four and sevent times the cost of Emergency Reporting, Mintz says. Many small fire departments around the country will not be able to afford the replacement software.
A mural depicts emergency services in the City of Sedro-Woolley's Fire Department Station 1 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, USA, on Tue., Dec. 9, 2025.
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