The Dawson region fire is under fire.

There are 31 fires burning, and homes and highways are at risk.

Cat lines on the fire on the Dempter Highway did not hold overnight. The blaze has grown to 1,600 hectares, and a potential threat remains to four residences in the area and the Klondike River Lodge, at the corner of the North Klondike Highway and the Dempster Cutoff.

Fire crews are still trying to establish a cat line around the fire.

Another fire is threatening the North Klondike Highway between Whitehorse and Dawson City. It’s approximately 1.5 kilometres away from the highway and could threaten both the highway and two homes in the Strickland Lake area.

Within hours Tuesday night, it grew from 30 hectares to 1,500 hectares.

Further north, fire crews are battling a blaze 12 kilometres from the town of Swede Creek. Smoke is the only problem it's presenting to the Top of the World Highway, which is just three kilometres away.

There are now 119 fires burning in the territory.

The Dawson region is definitely the area of the Yukon hardest hit, Keith Kepke, head of fire management at the Forest Fire Control Centre in Whitehorse said today.

There’s not much fire crews can do with a lot of them.

"Some of these fires we’re not going to be able to do anything except get out of the way. They’re too explosive."

Many are up and running along the hilltops, he said. There were more than 20 new fires reported each day over the weekend, and more than 1,000 daily lightning strikes.

"I can't sort of remember. It gets to be a blur," he said when for specific numbers.

Dawson has been hardest hit because the thunderstorms that have been passing by have brought "dry lightning" with them -- lightning storms with no rain.

"So they just take off like this one (Whitehorse) took off. The forests are prime and ready to go."

The fires will continue to be fought on the basis of threat to life and property, he said. In the meantime, forest officials try to predict immediate and long-term fire behavior on the other blazes.

"But it's a very fluid situation. One of the new fires can change everything."