WilCo Couple Officially IDed Among Dead In California Fire

AUSTIN, TX — All 34 people who died in the Sept. 2 boat fire off the coast of Santa Barbara — including a husband-and-wife couple formerly from Williamson County — have now been officially identified by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.

The female body of the last victim from the ill-fated Conception was located this week in a cove just west of where the vessel sank near Santa Cruz Island, according to reports. Andrew Fritz and his wife, Adrian Dahood-Fritz, each 40 years old, were among those identified by officials as having perished in the fire.

Formerly of Taylor, Texas, in Williamson County, The Fritzes had planned a scuba diving trip led by a marine biologist, a friend told the Austin American-Statesman. Both were accomplished photographers — they ran a Pflugerville business called AzulOx Visuals four years ago — and enjoy volunteerism efforts working with animals, according to the report. The couple lived in Sacramento, California.

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A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report released Thursday on the fire determined that all crew members on board were asleep when the fire started. The blaze started shortly after 3 a.m. Of those who died, 33 were passengers and one was a crew member of the 75-foot commercial diving boat. The vessel was anchored off Santa Cruz Island southwest of Santa Barbara as part of a three-day diving trip, according to the NTSB.

During a press conference Thursday, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown praised the coordination and cooperation of all of the dive teams involved in the challenging recovery operation. "The fact that there were so many casualties and so many innocent people that lost their lives in this, it has been emotionally charged as well as physically difficult for the people involved," he said. "It is with a heavy heart that I share the names of those lost with you."

The other casualties are:

• Carol Diana Adamic, 60, female, of Santa Cruz, California.
• Juha Pekka Ahopelto, 50, male, of Sunnyvale, California.
• Neal Gustav Baltz, 42, male, of Phoenix, Arizona.
• Patricia Ann Beitzinger 48, female, of Chandler, Arizona.
• Vaidehi Campbell, 41, female, of Felton, California.
• Raymond "Scott" Chan, 59, male, of Los Altos, California.
• Kendra Chan, 26, female, of Oxnard, California.
• Justin Carroll Dignam, 58, male, of Anaheim, California.
• Berenice Felipe, 16, female, of Santa Cruz, California.
• Lisa Fiedler, 52, female, of Mill Valley, California.
• Kristina "Kristy" Finstad, 41, female, of Santa Cruz, California.
• Daniel Garcia, 46, male, of Berkeley, California.
• Marybeth Guiney, 51, female, of Santa Monica, California.
• Yuko Hatano, 39, female, of San Jose, California.
• Yulia Krashennaya, 40, female, of Berkeley, California.
• Alexandra Kurtz, 26, female, of Santa Barbara, California.
• Xiang Lin, 45, female, of Fremont, California.
• Caroline McLaughlin, 35, female, of Oakland, California.
• Charles McIlvain, 44, male, of Santa Monica, California.
• Kaustubh Nirmal, 33, male, of Stamford, Connecticut.
• Sanjeeri DeoPujari (Nirmal), 31, female, of Stamford, Connecticut.
• Angela Rose Quitasol, 28, female, of Stockton, California.
• Evan Michel Quitasol, 37, female, of Stockton, California.
• Nicole Storm Quitasol, 31, female, of Imperial Beach, California.
• Michael Quitasol, 62, male, of Stockton,California.
• Steven Salika, 55, male, of Santa Cruz, California.
• Tia Salika-Adamic, 17, female, of Santa Cruz,California.
• Sumil Sandhu, 45, male, Half Moon Bay, California.
• Fernisa Sison, 57, female, of Stockton, California.
• Ted Strom, 62, male, of Germantown, Tennessee.
• Kristian Takvam, 34, male of San Francisco, California.
• Wei Tan, 26, female, of Goleta, California.