A vegetation fire in the wooded hills near the Chabot Space and Science Center burned about half an acre off the 10000 block of Skyline Boulevard on Friday night before crews knocked it down.

Oakland firefighters who responded to a vegetation fire in Joaquin Miller Park on Friday night could see smoke from the roadway but couldn't see any flames until they hiked about three-quarters of a mile into the park, Fire Department spokesman Michael Hunt told SFGATE. The crews had been sent to the 10000 block of Skyline Boulevard, near Joaquin Miller Road, in the wooded ground below the Chabot Space and Science Center.

Multiple callers reported smoke in the hills near the Sequoia Bayview Trail around 6:45 p.m., Hunt said. The department, posting on social media, described multiple trees burning. It grew large enough to be seen from downtown. "You could see the fire from downtown Oakland," Hunt told the outlet. "The wind was not super strong at the time. The lack of wind contributed to the fact that the fire did not spread."

About 50 firefighters were called out, according to the department. The blaze went to two alarms, drawing crews from Oakland, Cal Fire, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and the East Bay Regional Park District. It burned roughly half an acre and was mostly knocked down after three water drops from helicopters, the department said. Crews planned to stay in the area overnight to make sure it was fully doused and would not reignite.

The stretch of Skyline that burned sits in the same fuel-heavy Oakland Hills corridor where East Bay agencies have spent this year clearing eucalyptus and cutting fire breaks. Half an acre of it went up on Friday, three-quarters of a mile from the road, and came back down before it could reach anything built.