( CNN ) -- Africa 's most active volcano , Mount Nyamuragira in the Democratic Republic of Congo , erupted early Saturday , spewing lava off its southern flank , the Congolese Wildlife Authority reported . Rangers in Virunga National Park reported hearing a loud explosion at 3:45 a.m. and then seeing lava flowing from the crater of the 10,033-foot volcano . `` I first thought ( it ) was the sound of war . I thought there was fighting again near our park station , '' said Innocent Mburanumwe , warden for the southern sector of Virunga National Park . `` Then I saw the mountain was on fire with sparks flying . We could see that we were not in immediate danger here at Rumangabo , but there are many people who live to the south of the volcano , where the lava is heading as I speak . '' Nyamuragira is 15 miles ( 25 kilometers ) north of the city of Goma and its 600,000 residents , but Mburanumwe said in a blog posting that lava flows from the mountain were unlikely to threaten human populations . Lava flows from another park volcano , Nyiragongo , destroyed parts of Goma in 2002 . The wildlife authority said the Nyamuragira eruption was likely to destroy habitat for 40 chimpanzees on the volcano 's lower slopes . Virunga National Park is also home to 200 endangered mountain gorillas , but they live on the slopes of the Mikena volcano to the east of Nyamuragira . The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History calls Nyamuragira the continent 's most active volcano , with 42 eruptions since 1885 . Its most recent eruption ended in December 2006 .
Lava flowing down southern flank of Mount Nyamuragira , park rangers report . Score: 6 Park 's mountain gorillas not in danger , but lava threaten chimp habitat .