By Amanda Thomason March 19, 2022 at 3:20pm
Monday afternoon was almost the last Monday afternoon one teen from Oahu ever got to experience after entering a tide pool closed for the winter and getting stranded on the rocks.
Queen’s Bath, located in Princeville, Kauai, is a common attraction for its natural beauty — but in the winter, that beauty is especially dangerous, and the access gate to the popular water feature has been closed since October of last year to prevent exactly this sort of accident.
The path to the pool is still closed, but that didn’t deter one 16-year-old girl from risking her life for a thrill.
When reports came in that a female teenager was trapped on the rocks at around noon on Monday, firefighters, a helicopter and lifeguards on jetskis responded to the scene.
One firefighter took his own life in his hands to save the girl, venturing out into the turbulent water to rescue her.
“A 16-year-old Oahu girl violated the closed access to Queen’s Bath — which had been CLOSED to the public since October 2021 — and became stranded and trapped on the rocks at the tidepool,” the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association posted on Facebook on Wednesday.
“This caused #KauaiFF and other first responders to risk their lives in the dangerous and hazardous ocean conditions to rescue her on Monday.
“Hanalei firefighters responded to the scene with personnel aboard Air 1 while lifeguards responded on jetskis and remained on standby outside of the large surf break — A firefighter was able to hike down and swim to the area where the girl was trapped between sets of dangerous waves and bring her to safety.”
The girl was reportedly reunited with her family after she was rescued from the tide pools.
She suffered some lacerations but refused medical treatment, according to a post from the County of Kaua’i.
“We are grateful to our first responders who were able to act swiftly in this extremely dangerous rescue,” Fire Chief Steven Goble said in a statement, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
“This incident could have easily turned into a devastating outcome. Queen’s Bath remains closed for a reason, and we urge all beachgoers to take these warnings seriously, for yourself and for our first responders who also put their lives at risk.”
Locals commented to express their frustration over the waste of resources, saying they hoped the family was being held accountable for their actions.
Authorities have repeatedly warned that the gate to Queen’s Bath was closed, is closed and will remain closed until further notice.
Amanda holds an MA in Rhetoric and TESOL from Cal Poly Pomona. After teaching composition and logic for several years, she’s strayed into writing full-time and especially enjoys animal-related topics.
As of January 2019, Amanda has written over 1,000 stories for The Western Journal but doesn’t really know how. Graduating from California State Polytechnic University with a MA in Rhetoric/Composition and TESOL, she wrote her thesis about metacognitive development and the skill transfer between reading and writing in freshman students.
She has a slew of interests that keep her busy, including trying out new recipes, enjoying nature, discussing ridiculous topics, reading, drawing, people watching, developing curriculum, and writing bios. Sometimes she has red hair, sometimes she has brown hair, sometimes she’s had teal hair.
With a book on productive communication strategies in the works, Amanda is also writing and illustrating some children’s books with her husband, Edward.
Location
Austin, Texas
Languages Spoken
English und ein bißchen Deutsch
Topics of Expertise
Faith, Animals, Cooking