Hawaii County Fire Department officials rescued two male teenagers from the Mauna Loa Summit on Sunday.
Hawaii County Fire Department officials rescued two male teenagers from the Mauna Loa Summit on Sunday.
Acting Battalion Chief Matthias Kusch confirmed that both boys were reported missing about 6:10 p.m. Saturday.
He said they’re 18 and 16 years old and are from Colorado. He did not disclose their names.
Kusch believes the two went hiking and got lost during the late afternoon, an incident that Kusch says happens repeatedly.
“Too often people don’t bring a compass, flashlight or enough water and don’t realize how vast it is up there,” he said.
By the time the fire department had been notified Saturday, it was too late to send a chopper for an aerial search.
They did send ground units to the mountain Saturday night and searched for the missing boys throughout the the evening.
The chopper went up about 5:45 a.m. Sunday and arrived at Mauna Loa about 6:12 a.m.
According to the report, they located and extricated the two males and took them back to the parking area to their parents.
No injuries were reported.