Kauai firefighters rescued a stranded hiker in Kokee on Saturday after the hiker was forced to spend the night on Haeleele Ridge without any water.

Firefighters told the hiker, who is from Washington state, to remain in place and to call them again in the morning after the hiker called 911 at 9:30 p.m. Friday. When firefighters from the Waimea station went out Saturday morning they found the road to the hiker inaccessible because of deep potholes and slick conditions.

Rescuers aboard the Kauai Fire Department helicopter located and air-lifted the hiker about 9:30 a.m. and transported him to a waiting ambulance at the end of Kaumualii Highway in Mana.

The hiker refused medical treatment but accepted water from the ambulance crew.