400 guests escorted to safety after fire breaks out at Table Mountain cablecar station

Table Mountain

Cape Town — Firefighters were hard at work to extinguish a fire that broke out at the Table Mountain lower cablecar station on Thursday afternoon.

South African National Parks (SANParks) said the fire broke out at the lower cable station after it had started inside the garage in the building near the lower cable station. Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Department managed to contain the fire, while Table Mountain National Park fire crew supported the surroundings, TimesLIVE reported.

SANParks said all guests were safely evacuated and no injuries were reported.

“About 400 guests at the upper Cable Station were kept up there initially due to the thick smoke from the lower cable station. The backup power system has been activated and evacuation via cable cars has now commenced,” SANParks said.

Some guests decided to walk down Platteklip Gorge to evacuate before the cable car was operational and were helped by SANParks rangers.

SANParks also attended to a fire on the lower slopes of Signal Hull as well as the block house on Devil’s Peak and Kloofnek Corenr, but no one presenta the locations.

According to News24, Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company (TMACC) Managing Director, Wahida Parker, said the fire had broken out in the parking-garage of the lower station building

“Our fire-suppression system immediately activated to bring the flames under control, while our emergency response plan kicked into action. The City of Cape Town’s Fire Services arrived to assist. Our focus is to ensure the safety of all visitors and we thank them for their cooperation,” she said.

She added that all visitors on top of the mountain would be brought down to safety by Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services and no one was transported up or down until clearance was given by fire services.

Jermaine Carelse, spokesperson for the City’s Fire and Rescue Services, said staff will remain on scene to ensure that the batteries do not reignite and that the area is safe. He said fire crews were also actively working to extinguish a fire above the quarry near Strand Street.

Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Picture: X/@TrafficSA

For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com

Compiled by Matthew Petersen

Article written by