Lost Hikers at Haleakala Treated for Possible Hypothermia

At 8:32 p.m. on Saturday May 4, 2019, Maui County fire fighters were called to assist the National Park Service to locate two missing hikers near the summit’s visitor center.

Fire fighters from the Makawao Fire Station and fire rescue personnel from the Kahului Fire Station responded.

Fire fighters got on scene before 10 p.m. and began searching for the lost hikers, who had called by cell phone requesting assistance.

At around 10:45 p.m., fire fighters located a male and a female in their 30s about 500 feet below the visitor’s center.

At the time of the rescue, the temperature gauge in the rescue vehicle indicated it was 40 degrees F without wind-chill. It was also raining.

Fire officials say that when found, the hikers were incoherent and unable to speak, likely due to hypothermia. Fire fighters immediately carried them by stretchers to an awaiting ambulance for treatment.

The weather on Saturday was windy and rainy throughout Maui County due to a cold front passing through the state.