New Carlton Fire District started as the Carlton Volunteer Fire Department. The exact date that the Carlton Volunteer Fire Department came into existence was forever lost in 1942 when the then combination Fire Department/City Hall burned.

Articles of incorporation show that the Carlton Volunteer Fire Department was officially formed in September of 1912, the department was functioning for some years prior to that. According to the book Reflections of Carlton by Merry Berry, the 1904-1906 Oregon Bureau of Labor Second Biennial Report listed a volunteer fire department in Carlton and the City Council minutes first mention a fire department in April of 1905. The first piece of firefighting equipment was a hose cart and hoses, and the city also purchased a fire bell in 1905.

The first motor driven fire engine was purchased after the business district burnt in 1921 and later in the 1920's a second fire engine was obtained. 

In 1939 Carlton Volunteer Fire Department partnered with the very first fire district in Yamhill County, The Carlton Rural Fire District.

In the 1940's a brick fire hall was built at 209 N Kutch Street. This building still stands today but is now occupied by Earth & Sea Resturant.

In 2006 the Carlton Volunteer Fire Department and the Carlton Rural Fire District joined together to form what is now the New Carlton Fire District. Then in 2007-2008 construction was started on a new bigger fire station at 343 W Roosevelt St.  as well as a substation on Panther Creek Rd.