Three men were plucked from a narrow ridgeline above the Stairway to Heaven trail after becoming stranded during a roughly six-hour hike, with Honolulu firefighters hoisting all three to safety by mid-morning. The rescue unfolded on the Koʻolau ridge between the top of the Haʻikū Stairs and the Moanalua Ridge Trail saddle, a stretch of mountain on the Koʻolau ridge.
According to Hawaii News Now, the Honolulu Fire Department received the rescue call around 9:09 a.m. and responded with six units and 18 personnel. The three men had reportedly been hiking for about six hours before becoming stuck on the ridgeline, the outlet reported.
How Crews Reached the Stranded Hikers
Firefighters secured a nearby landing zone while eight personnel began hiking up the trail as a backup plan in case air support couldn't close the gap. The station's report notes that Air 1 located the hikers around 9:42 a.m., after which rescue crews contacted them by cellphone and instructed them to secure their belongings and prepare to be hoisted.
The first hiker was airlifted to the landing zone around 9:55 a.m., and the remaining two were hoisted shortly after 10:10 a.m., per the same account. All three hikers were safely at the landing zone by 10:19 a.m. and declined medical treatment, while firefighters sustained no injuries during the operation.
The Ridge Between Two Routes
The stretch of ridge where the men became stranded sits between the Haʻikū Stairs and the Moanalua-side route. The City and County of Honolulu began a $2.6 million removal project for the Haʻikū Stairs in April 2024, according to Hawaii Public Radio, after the Honolulu City Council voted in 2021 to dismantle the structure following decades of trespassing complaints.
That removal effort hit a legal snag in July 2024, when the Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals issued an injunction partially halting further demolition while an appeal by the preservation group Friends of Haʻikū Stairs plays out, as reported by Honolulu Civil Beat. The group's appeal argues the city's environmental review failed to account for increased foot traffic on alternative mountain routes.
Meanwhile, the back-door approach some hikers have used to reach the same ridge saddle, the Moanalua Valley Trail and Middle Ridge route, was temporarily closed by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources in May 2024 over erosion and public safety concerns tied to the stair removal work, per Hawaii Public Radio.
Trespassing Carries Real Legal Risk
The stairs are illegal to enter, according to SFGATE. Honolulu Police have issued dozens of citations and made multiple arrests near entry points throughout 2024, the outlet reported. The original stairs were built by Navy contractors in 1942 to reach a secret radio facility in Haʻikū Valley before being rebuilt with 3,922 steel steps in the mid-1950s and closed to the public in 1987.
A Familiar Strain on Rescue Crews
Saturday's rescue is far from an isolated incident on this stretch of mountain. The Honolulu Fire Department logged 118 search-and-rescue operations at the Haʻikū Stairs between 2010 and 2022, according to The Washington Post, a tally cited as a key factor behind the city council's decision to tear the structure down. A nearly identical scenario played out in March 2023, when the department deployed 16 personnel across five units and an Air 1 helicopter to rescue an injured 20-year-old hiker and two companions stranded along the same stairs, as reported by Beat of Hawaii.
Legislative proposals have addressed search-and-rescue costs, including a 2024 measure, as Backpacker Magazine reported. Fire departments have consistently opposed rescue-billing proposals, citing concern that distressed hikers might delay calling 911 out of fear of the cost.
