Texas couple killed in California boat fire

AUSTIN, Texas - The Central Texas community is mourning the deaths of Adrian Dahood-Fritz and her husband Andrew Fritz. The couple were among the 34 people killed in a dive boat fire off the coast of Southern California, Monday. 

"That was just who they are that was the type of place they would absolutely go…" Fritz's lifelong friend and business partner Josh Baker said. "They wanted to go see the kind of unspoiled areas of the world." 

Fritz and Baker grew up together in Seguin.

"He was a nerd, so was I," laughed Baker, who described his friend as a "big guy, with a big brain and a big personality." 

In 2015, the two founded AzulOx Visuals, a wedding and commercial photography company in Taylor. Baker said Fritz, who also worked in tech, was not only a photographer, but managed the company's data infrastructure. 

Fritz and Dahood-Fritz met swing dancing in Galveston. The two were passionate swing dancers. 

Scott Dean, commander of American Legion Post 39 in Taylor, said it was great fun to watch the couple swing dance at local venues. The couple even taught a lesson at the post. Baker says the first hour of the couple's wedding reception was a swing dancing lesson. 

Baker called the relationship, "proof that there's somebody for everyone. They were funny, they were so smart. She had her PhD, he had his masters. I mean they were just super bright people." 

The two 40-year-olds lived in Taylor until spring 2019. They moved to California for Dahood-Fritz's job as an environmental scientist with the state's Ocean Protection Council.

The couple shared a love for the outdoors -- especially the ocean. Fritz was an experienced scuba diver, who enjoyed cave diving. 

"It was so shocking to hear that [Fritz] was on [the boat] but I'm not surprised... They shared an incredible passion for diving and adventuring." said Casey Holder of Precision Camera & Video. 

Fritz taught several classes for the store. 
"They were absolutely people that they didn't just do the little bits of things." Baker said of his friends. 

Fritz, an outdoorsmen, often led camping trips and workshops for the store as well. 
"People would take his workshops just because they liked him." Holder said.

On Friday, the couple's bodies remained in California, as the investigation into the fire continued.  

"I think if you wanted to live in a way that emulated who they were, go deep with things, you know," Baker said. "Breathe deep, love deep, you know, study hard, work hard, play hard. Go all in you know. Life's too short to live halfway."