An 18-year-old Maui resident had to be pulled from the edge of a pond at Twin Falls on Thursday after falling from an unknown height, an injury serious enough that he could not walk out on his own. Rising water at the pond turned what began as a fall into a race against the elements, with fire crews and an air ambulance ultimately needed to get him to safety.
Firefighters responded to reports of a male who had fallen into the pond in the Hoʻolawa Valley area of Twin Falls, according to Maui Now. Personnel from Rescue 10 aboard the Air 1 helicopter arrived at the scene and extricated the victim from the pond's edge as water levels began to rise rapidly, per the same account.
Once he was clear of the water, Engine 2 and Rescue 10 firefighters carried the injured man down the trail to waiting emergency medical services personnel, the outlet reported. Because he was unable to walk due to his injuries, ground crews then called in the REACH 48 air ambulance, which transported him to Maui Memorial Medical Center for further treatment, the report states. By the time emergency crews concluded their response, the operation had drawn together fire rescue, ground EMS, and air medical transport in a single coordinated effort.
A Familiar and Hazardous Stretch of the Hāna Highway
Twin Falls sits on Wailele Farm, a privately owned property near Mile Marker 2 on the Hāna Highway that allows public trail access while monitoring stream conditions for flash-flood danger, according to Road to Hana. More than 300,000 visitors pass through the Hoʻolawa Valley trails each year, making it one of the most heavily trafficked stops on the drive to Hāna.
That popularity has come with a long record of injuries. In September 2024, a 30-year-old visitor from California suffered trauma injuries after a 10-foot fall onto rocks at Twin Falls and needed an airlift extraction by Air 1, as reported by SFGATE. That same report notes that in 2019, a 47-year-old visitor from California died after a 10-foot fall along the Twin Falls trail system. In April 2021, a 40-year-old visitor sustained a back injury after jumping from a 40-foot waterfall into a pond at Twin Falls, requiring Rescue 10 aboard Air 1 to airlift him to Maui Memorial Medical Center, according to prior reporting from Maui Now.
How Maui's Air Rescue System Works
The Air 1 helicopter used in the extrication, a Eurocopter BK117-850G2 named Iolani, has been in service since July 2022 to support aerial rescue and firefighting missions across the island. Because Air 1 is built for extractions rather than extended medical transport, patients needing intensive care are typically handed off at landing zones to REACH 48, the rotor-wing air ambulance operated under Global Medical Response that serves as the sole EMS air transport provider in Maui County, according to testimony submitted to the Hawaii State Legislature.
That handoff model has played out repeatedly across the island this year. In July 2026, Maui fire crews aboard Air 1 handed off a critically injured 27-year-old woman to a REACH 48 air ambulance following an ocean fall at Nakalele Point. Just days earlier, Rescue 10 aboard Air 1 hoisted a 62-year-old hiker injured on the Pīpīwai Trail in Kīpahulu before transferring her to REACH 48 for transport to Maui Memorial Medical Center, according to the Maui News.
Maui Memorial Medical Center in Wailuku is the island's only acute care hospital and was verified in May 2025 as an American College of Surgeons Level III Trauma Center, per Maui Health. Notably, Air 1 operates on a daytime-only basis, a limitation that prompted the Maui Police Department to add its own multi-mission helicopter, named Hekili, in July 2025 to help cover night-response gaps.
