The fire territory — created 2020, Hudson added 2022, the volunteers disbanded 2023

2018–2026 · THE MODERN COURSE

The territory was debated in 2018, created in 2020, and completed in 2022. The course in its documents: the Town Council voted 3–2 in January 2018 to begin the formal process (the Tribune's projection then was a 2019 launch); a Fire Territory Committee was meeting by 12 November 2019; and the town's own fire-territory page dates the creation of the New Carlisle, Olive Twp., Hudson Lake Fire Territory to 2020 — "Until then, the Town and outlying areas were serviced by an all-volunteer fire department." The Department of Local Government Finance's Final Determination IML22-010 (2022) supplies the expansion record: the Town and Olive Township were already participating units, Hudson Township (La Porte County) petitioned in on 31 May 2022, and the territory's initial maximum levy was set for the pay-2023 tax year, hearings having been published in the South Bend Tribune and the La Porte Herald Dispatch in February 2022. The governing Fire Territory Board draws members from the town council and the Olive and Hudson township boards. The volunteer department's end followed in the board's minutes: on 8 February 2023 the board voted 5–0 to terminate the formal agreement with the New Carlisle Volunteer Fire Dept. — "the volunteer unit is no longer functioning as envisioned" — and the July 2023 minutes record "the volunteer fire department has been disbanded and the estimated savings is $100,000." By September 2023 the department stood at 15 full-time firefighters and three volunteers, with a new assistant chief position posted that February (Chad Hess stands as Assistant Fire Chief in the 2023 minutes; Clint Weisenberger was introduced as a new captain that September), and the firefighters have their own union local, New Carlisle Firefighters Local 5263. As of November 2026 the town's page gives the working state: the newly remodeled station in downtown New Carlisle — 204 East Michigan Street — "houses 5 paid firefighters at all times, including 1 paramedic," and Fire Chief Josh Schweizer holds the seat, as he has through the whole territory course. The exact effective date of the 2020 creation prints at the town page's strength; the establishing ordinances are its settler.

Sources:

1. Town of New Carlisle, Fire Territory page, read whole November 2026: creation 2020; the remodeled station; five paid firefighters at all times including one paramedic; Chief Josh Schweizer.
2. DLGF Final Determination IML22-010 (in.gov/dlgf), read first-hand: the participating units, Hudson's 31 May 2022 petition, the pay-2023 levy, the hearing publications.
3. Fire Territory Board minutes, Feb–Sept 2023 (township-hosted copies): the 5–0 termination vote, the disbanding and savings, the staffing counts, Hess and Weisenberger.
4. Town Council agenda, 12 Nov 2019: Fire Territory Committee meetings. New Carlisle Firefighters Local 5263 at 204 E. Michigan Street (govserv.org listing, 2026).