The Crook County Fire and Rescue Department has been named in a wrongful death lawsuit regarding one of its volunteer firefighters who died two years ago while attending a volunteer firefighter training conference in Albany.

Shannon Halvorson, 20, a volunteer firefighter with the Crook County Fire and Rescue Department for 11 months, died on June 13, 2003. She hit her head the night before when she was dropped by a fellow volunteer firefighter, Mark McCallum, who was carrying her across a parking lot.

Both Halvorson and McCallum had been drinking before the accident occurred, according to the lawsuit.

McCallum, the Oregon Volunteer Firefighters Association, which sponsored the training conference, and David Lapof, the president of the association at the time of the accident, are also named in the lawsuit. McCallum is still a volunteer firefighter with Crook County Fire and Rescue.

The three parties were named in the original lawsuit and the fire and rescue department was recently added to it. Halvorson’s parents, Richard Zimmerlee and Heidi McCrary, filed the original lawsuit last June on behalf of Halvorson’s son, Garret, who was 3 at the time of her death.

Halvorson’s parents are asking for just over $7 million, which includes funeral expenses, loss of past and future earnings and pain and suffering, according to the lawsuit.

Brant Medonich, the attorney representing the family in the lawsuit, said a trial is scheduled for March 13, 2006. Medonich, who is with Hurley, Lynch and Re, said his firm recently took over the lawsuit from another attorney.

Crook County Fire Chief Bob Schnoor and the fire department board president, Mark Nyman, both said Tuesday that they were not aware that the department was now included in the lawsuit.

After reading a copy of the lawsuit on Tuesday afternoon, Nyman declined to comment on the allegations.

”I don’t think it would appropriate to respond to any of that. The lawsuit needs to follow its normal course,” Nyman said. ”My heart goes to the family that is dealing with the loss of Shannon because that is a tragic loss and there is no other way to put that.”

McCallum, Lapof and the volunteer firefighters association could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The lawsuit alleges that Lapof, the volunteer firefighters association and the fire and rescue department were negligent for allowing and encouraging excessive drinking. The lawsuit also alleges that the parties failed to supervise the volunteer firefighters when they knew from past conferences that participants tended to drink excessively.

According to the lawsuit, drinks were available in a ”hospitality room” during the training conference on Thursday, June 12. It is unclear from the lawsuit if Halvorson and McCallum drank alcohol in the hospitality room.

Both of them did drink alcohol later that night in Lapof’s motel room, the lawsuit states. They drank to the point that they were visibly intoxicated and Halvorson became sick, the lawsuit states.

When they left Lapof’s motel room, McCallum hoisted Halvorson over his shoulder to carry her across the parking lot, the lawsuit states. He tripped and fell and Halvorson hit the back of her head. She died the next afternoon on June 13, 2003 at a local hospital. The lawsuit alleges that McCallum was negligent because of his actions.

After reviewing evidence about the incident, a Linn County grand jury decided in July 2003 that Halvorson’s death was not criminal and issued no charges, according to the Linn County District Attorney’s Office.

Zimmerlee, Halvorson’s father, said he could not believe that criminal charges were not filed. He pointed out that it is against the law to furnish alcohol to a minor, which Halvorson was at the time of her death.

Zimmerlee said if his family wins the lawsuit, they hope to put the money in a trust fund for Halvorson’s son, Garret, who lives with his father, Jeff Halvorson. Jeff Halvorson is a volunteer firefighter with Crook County Fire and Rescue.

”Garret has lost his mother for the rest of his life,” Zimmerlee said. ”And I feel he needs to be compensated for that loss.”