Firefighters assisted by the department’s helicopter rescued three hikers stranded by high water on the Commando Trail in East Maui Monday afternoon.

Firefighters from Paia, along with the department’s Air 1 helicopter and a Kahului rescue crew arrived around 2:30 p.m. The helicopter located the hikers and airlifted them to a landing zone in a pasture near the trailhead. All three were uninjured.

The hikers were two miles up the trail and on their way back when they became trapped by high water at the area known as the "lava tube." In that part of the trail, the only way out is to walk through an irrigation tunnel. Stream water was very high and moving too swiftly through the tunnel so they called emergency dispatchers for help.

A 27-year-old Makawao man was hiking with friends, a 32-year-old man and 38-year-old woman visiting from Laguna Beach, Calif.