A fire ban is in place throughout the central and northern parts of the territory as Yukon Wildland Fire Management crews and their counterparts from British Columbia continue efforts to keep the more than 60 fires throughout the Yukon under control.

At a media briefing held late this morning, Community Services Minister Elaine Taylor and fire officials urged Yukoners to take "extreme caution” over the long weekend.

Members of the public are urged to adhere to the ban on open fires when they are in affected areas, call in fires and keep up to date on the situation through 511 for road reports in case of closures.

Or, they can do so through social media or Fire Management's website (http://www.community.gov.yk.ca/fire management/).

The ban is not in place for southern areas including Whitehorse, Haines Junction, Carcross, Teslin, Tagish, Watson Lake and all areas in between.

Fires in designated fire pits within campgrounds and closed cooking utensils such as barbecues with lids and small cook stoves can also be used.

As Fire Management director Mike Sparks told reporters, in addition to the 23 new fires that were reported Thursday, thunderstorms are forecast for the weekend in parts of the territory.

That means a possibility of more lightning strikes and fire starts.

It's anticipated there could be 15 to 25 new fires over the weekend, given the forecast for the territory.

Fire officials are currently assessing the situation throughout the Yukon with five fires prioritized.

Those include one that saw a temporary closure of the Robert Campbell Highway last night.

Three of those are in the Carmacks fire district.

The Carmacks 11 fire is 16 kilometres north of the community.

Efforts were made Thursday to get it under control, with crews continuing to make progress today.

Carmacks 3 and 4 fires are burning 45 kilometres east of the village and consuming about 350 ha.

Another is is burning between 450 and 500 ha., 18 kilometres east of Faro, and only eight kilometres away from the Blind Creek Farm.

Only about three weeks ago, that area was impacted by flooding.

A number of the farm animals had already been moved from the farm to higher ground when the flooding was happening. Officials are working with the farm's owners to protect the area.

The Mayo 6 fire on Mayo Lake was reported late last night and is about six ha. in size. Sparks said crews are taking action on the blaze again today.

Complementing the crews of 77 Yukon firefighters are 107 personnel from B.C. brought in to assist, including the crews who arrived from the province this morning.

"They've been going steady for two weeks now,” Sparks said of the Yukon firefighters.

It's expected more firefighting personnel from Outside will be called in to assist over the weekend.

Temperatures are expected to get a little cooler over the weekend with some precipitation.

Sparks, however, said it's not likely enough to make a huge impact on the fires.

Rather, it may give fire crews just enough of a break to enable them to get established and do what is needed to deal with the more major fires that are closer to structures.

Taylor said she has spoken with community leaders in Mayo, Carmacks, Faro and other areas, who have indicated they feel confident with the action being taken on the fires.

Officials again stressed the importance of the public notifying officials when they spot a fire.

They noted the Carmacks 8 fire – a 300 ha. fire that saw the Robert Campbell Highway portion closed last night – was actioned quickly because of the report that came in to officials.

Viewing a video of the huge blaze, Sparks noted its large scale.

"You can see it has quite a fire front on it,” he said.

Officials are also keeping a close watch on an Alaska fire near the Beaver Creek border, with a protection plan being put in place for that area if need be.

In total, there have been nearly 80 fires in the territory this season, burning 20,650 hectares.

Just before 1:00 this afternoon, city and wildland crews were responding to a report of a fire near the Mary Lake subdivision.

Fire information officer George Maratos said crews were en route to the blaze and that it was taking a priority due to the location.

Other details weren't immediately available, though firefighters swiftly got a handle on it.