Ten of the 11 new fires detected in the territory Wednesday were caused by lightning, while the one on Watson Lake Island was caused by an abandoned campfire.

Information officer George Maratos of Yukon Wildland Fire Management said today the island fire emphasizes the importance of making sure campfires are out before leaving.

With all hands on deck already fighting numerous lightning-sparked blazes, he said, the last thing firefighters need is to redirect resources to fires caused by carelessness.

While there have not been a lot of human-caused fires this year, he said, some of the ones that were started, such as the two right behind Riverdale, have the potential to be very serious.

Maratos said the 50 firefighters who arrived Tuesday from Alberta and B.C. to assist the Yukon’s 66 firefighters have already been deployed across the territory.

Of the 112 fires burning in the Yukon, the vast majority are in the wilderness zone.

Crews are currently fighting 15 fires.

“Wildland Fire Management places priority on fires that pose risk to values and actions those fires as quickly as possible, always emphasizing the protection of life and property while maintaining the safety of our staff,” duty officer Catherine Spence said in a statement this morning.

Maratos said there has already been a total of 150 fires to date, which is equal to the 25-year average for the whole season. Last year, there were 32.

The fires have burned a total of 50,000 hectares so far this season.

In the last three days alone, there have been 28 new fires.

Maratos said of the 11 new fires yesterday, one was in the wilderness zone in the Dawson district, but action was taken because of the fire’s proximity to a mining camp.

Structural protection has been put in place at mining camps as well as for structures along the Stewart River.

Wildland Fire Management has also developed a structural protection plan for the Fort Selkirk historic site in the Carmacks district, where a blaze has grown to more than 900 ha and is 8.5 kilometres from the site.

All three fires detected in the Old Crow district are burning in the wilderness zone, one of which is now estimated at 5,000 hectares.

Two of the four fires in the Mayo district were actioned.

Of the three new fires in the Watson Lake district, action was taken on the fire caused by the abandoned campfire.

Maratos said volunteers and a Wildland fire crew put out the island fire.

While the short-term forecast is calling for cooler and damper conditions in the next day or two, more hot and dry conditions are expected in the not-too-distant future.

“There’ll be a bit of a downturn in the weather starting tomorrow with some shower activity where we need it most, in the north and central Yukon,” he said.

“And there’ll be a dip in the temperatures. It looks like there’ll be a ridge building again next week.”

Meanwhile, burgeoning wildfires in Alaska have prompted more evacuations in the state’s parched interior, with some residents of two communities fleeing.

Fire managers say the voluntary evacuations took place Tuesday from the Athabascan village of Tanana and the remote community of Eureka.

More people are leaving today.

The fire near Eureka forced Brent Sass, the 2015 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race champion, to move his dogs to Fairbanks.

Sass posted on his kennel’s verified Facebook account that he was “preparing the homestead for the worst but hoping for the best.”

 An evacuation advisory also was issued for an area just north of Fairbanks.

The large city itself has been smoky because of various fires in the region.

 There were 40 new fires reported Tuesday across the state, bringing the total of active fires to 278.

Altogether, fires are burning nearly 636 square miles.

– With files from The Associated Press