More than 120 firefighters are battling the blaze and four helicopters have been deployed to help with the efforts, according to a statement shared by a Twitter account associated with the park.
“The fire created its own wind that further increased the speed of propagation. Excessive amount of smoke and related drafts made it impossible for the air support to reduce the speed of propagation,” the park added.
The statement said the Rhodes Memorial Restaurant had burned down and “the fire has also spread to the campaign located on the upper campus of Cape Town University”.
A woman in the park said she was “trying to get over the fire” in a video posted on Twitter that showed a plume of smoke in the background. In a later tweet, Lisette Lombard said she was safe but that her car had been “destroyed”.
“I have never experienced a fire that has spread so unpredictably. I have a lot of respect for our firefighters,” he added.
The cause of the fire, which broke out on the side of Table Mountain on Sunday morning, is unknown, Jermaine Carelse, a spokeswoman for Cape Town Fire and Rescue, told CNN.
Authorities received a notification around 8:45 a.m. local time (2:45 p.m.) and are currently fighting the fire, which is being fanned by the wind, Carelse said.
The fire spread from the vicinity of Philip Kgosana Drive, which borders Mountain Mountain National Park, to the Rhodes Memorial that continues toward the Cape Town University buildings, Carelse said.
Earlier Sunday, the National Park’s Twitter account requested that spectators “refrain from entering the area and keep the area free for emergency vehicles to pass,” as the fire was “out of control.”
He added that all hikers in the Newlands and Rhodes Memorial area should evacuate with immediate effect.