Hikers airlifted from Pearl City trail
The Honolulu Fire Department rescued a group of hikers Sunday afternoon on Waimano Ridge Trail.
After conducting an air search, the fire department airlifted all three hikers to safety. No injuries were reported.
The three youths were on the trail for approximately five hours on Sunday when they became lost and disoriented near the summit of the trail.
17 responses to “Hikers airlifted from Pearl City trail”
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These hiker rescues are getting out of control. Why not the chopper just give the hikers directions back down the mountain and let them hike back down on their own!!!!
Agree, unless someone is injured time to change the rescue policy where the county only drops a map tied to a granola bar and a 16oz bottle of watter via a drone!
But they were tired and bored!
Enough of this. HFD got better things to do than assist lost hikers. Maybe if they were charged for services rendered, they would think twice before calling for assistance.
What you propose would be more of a problem than a solution. Someone who needs the chopper will think of the five-figure bill and say “Naaaaaaaahhh, I going chance ‘um!” Then bumbye one obituary.
Maybe you’re correct but my guess is almost always they will find their way out UNINJURED.
And, if you ever need emergency services, hopefully they won’t print your story here so folks can complain about how much smarter you should have been.
Disoriented? Too much beer in da ear?
Yes, you can get disoriented when you miss your mouth and pour beer in your ear.
hahahahahahahaha
Just stay on the trail. No get lost that way.
I have done a lots of hiking in Hawaii and around the world on vacation. I must say one way to have fewer hikers who encounter problems is to have the State to put up signage throughout the trail or markers such as ribbons every certain distance. This is already true to a certain extent on some trails. Of course the signage should be made of metal to withstand harsh weather conditions. I know lots of the trails are not State sanctioned. In this case, this can be undertaken by the Sierra Club or the Hawaii Trail and Mountain Club. Yes, sign maintenance is a real problem, in terms of weather and vandals. For this reason this will be an endless task, like graffiti removal. Still it is worth the effort. Maybe the State can establish a special fund for which organizations can apply through a grant proposal process.
These people should not be hiking in bad weather. Too bad you can’t close the trails when it’s storming.
Without a doubt, hikers who get lost and disoriented and need to call for rescue are NOT on a main trail. That’s WHY they are lost and disoriented! Most likely they have “ventured off” on their own, thinking the “pastures are greener, or maybe the way down looks shorter via the other ridge, so we’ll just bushwhack over there….” As helpful as your suggestion seems Lanaiboy, all the King’s horses and all the King’s men could mark trails with ribbons like Christmas, but because there are those who will still insist on venturing off into the wild, there will always be those who get “lost and disoriented”. Markers and signage only help if you follow them.
I agree with kiragirl — I have no problem with emergency services being used to go rescue these idiots as long as they are footing the bill (not us taxpayers).
Fire departments have legal authority to bill for rescues of reckless hikers but refuse to do so.
Taxpayers, including firefighters (they pay taxes too) are already “footing the bill.” Emergency services are among the things that we already expect government to provide.