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Four Berkeley engine companies battled a blaze fanned by 35-mile-an-hour winds atop Grizzly Peak after Oakland firefighters issued a call for mutual assistance at 10 minutes after midnight Monday morning. 

Before the four-acre grass blaze was contained, Oakland issued a third alarm. 

About a dozen engines from Oakland, two from Orinda, five from the California Division of Forestry, and the four Berkeley crews battled for more than three hours to contain the flames. No dwellings were burned, and there were no injuries among the crews, said Berkeley Deputy Chief David Orth. “The fire started when a tree fell over into electric lines,” he said. 

“This is really an early start to fire season,” explained the Berkeley firefighter, adding that another mountain-area woods fire hit Marin County over the weekend.