Large fires are burning on the slopes of South Africa’s famous Table Mountain

Helicopters have dropped water on large fires burning on the slopes of South Africa’s Table Mountain as police investigated whether arson was the cause.

Table Mountain National Park first reported the fires on Friday. It said in a statement it believed that three fires were started deliberately.

Police said they had arrested one person on suspicion of arson.

The city of Cape Town said the latest fires were partly under control but there were fears over more flare-ups.

Wildfires there are often fanned by strong coastal winds that can cause them to move swiftly and burn out of control again.

No injuries were reported and no private residences had been damaged, city official JP Smith said. He said four vehicles and a motorcycle in a car park had been destroyed and other cars were damaged.

Authorities closed roads and hiking trails. Nearly 200 people, including some in nursing homes, were evacuated on Sunday but later returned to their residences, the park said.

Table Mountain is susceptible to wildfires in the hot, dry months between November and April. The last major fire on the mountain was in February.

The park estimated that 3,000 hectares of vegetation have been burned this time. The fires were burning on the back slopes of the mountain and not the famous flat-topped part that overlooks Cape Town’s city centre.

Around 250 firefighters have responded to the fires, the park said.

Mr Smith said fire crews made progress overnight by using thermal imaging drones to identify the direction the fires were moving.