Albany police are investigating the circumstances that led to the death of 20-year-old volunteer firefighter Friday, including how she may have obtained alcohol.
Shannon Lee Halvorson, of Prineville, died Friday at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis. She was injured the night before while being taken back to her room at the Holiday Inn Express, adjacent to the Linn County Fair & Expo Center.
The dispatch report stated that Halvorson was intoxicated at the time of the accident. She, along with five other volunteer firefighters from Crook County Fire and Rescue, were in town for a volunteer firefighters' convention at the Fair & Expo Center.
She had not been served alcohol by the caterer at the Fair & Expo Center, the facility's manager, Randy Porter, said this morning.
Porter said the alcohol service at the Fair & Expo Center Thursday night was provided by Oregon Beverage, a Salem company that has the contract for alcohol sales at the center.
Porter said he spoke with the contractor and was assured that Halvorson was not served. Porter said the provider has a good history at the Fair & Expo Center.
"We've used this caterer since I've been here and he's very good at carding," Porter said. "If she was drinking here, it must have been provided by someone else."
According to Porter, the bar that night was "half-hosted," meaning that individuals were able to purchase beers for $1 apiece, with the rest of the cost picked up by the Oregon Volunteer Firefighters Association, which was hosting the conference.
Despite the subsidized drinks, Porter said sales were slow and the alcohol service shut down early Thursday, at 9:15 p.m. instead of the scheduled 10 p.m.
The 911 call reporting Halvorson's injuries came in at midnight, according to a dispatch log. The log states that a man was carrying Halvorson when he tripped and dropped her, and that she suffered cuts and trauma to her head.
Deputy District Attorney George Eder said Albany police are continuing to investigate where Halvorson got the alcohol, how much she had to drink, and whether the people with her, including the man carrying her, were also intoxicated.
"Those are the kind of details the investigation will uncover," he said.
Eder said he didn't know when the investigation would be complete.
Bob Schnoor, the fire chief of Crook County Fire and Rescue, said details of services for Halvorson haven't been finalized yet. Halvorson had been with the department 11 months and was interested in becoming a nurse. She had a 3-year-old son named Garrett.
So far, Schnoor said, there are no plans for the fire department to review its policies about drinking at conventions.
"That hasn't come up yet," he said. "I imagine that will come from the board if it comes up at all."
First Report: Ore. Female Firefighter Dies After Being Dropped
