More than 120 firefighters are battling the blaze and four helicopters have been deployed to help with the efforts, according to a press release distributed by a Twitter account associated with the park.
“The fire created its own wind that further increased the spread rate. The excessive amount of smoke and related currents made it impossible for the air support to slow down the spread rate,” the park added.
The statement said the Rhodes Memorial restaurant burned and “the fire spread to the farm above 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 showing a smokescreen in the background. In a later tweet, Lisette Lombard said she was safe, but her car was “destroyed”.
“I have never experienced a fire that spread so unpredictably. I have so much respect for our firefighters,” she added.
The cause of the fire that broke out on the slope of Table Mountain on Sunday morning is unknown, Jermaine Carelse, a spokeswoman for Cape Town Fire and Rescue, told CNN.
Authorities were notified around 8:45 local time (2.45 am ET) and are currently fighting the fire, which is ventilated by the wind, Carelse said.
The fire spread from the vicinity of Philip Kgosana Drive, which borders Mountain National Park, to the Rhodes Memorial and continues to the University of Cape Town buildings, Carelse said.
Earlier on Sunday, the National Park’s Twitter account asked spectators to “refrain from entering the area and keep the area free for the passage of emergency vehicles”, as the fire was “out of control”.
He added that all hikers in the Newlands and Rhodes Memorial area should evacuate with immediate effect.