A recently-discovered wildfire just 10 kilometres north of Yellowknife is now believed to be human caused, according to territorial wildfire authorities.

The fire, labelled ZF029-22, was discovered on the evening of July 5 about 10 kilometres north of the airport, and less than half a kilometre from Vee Lake Road. Following the discovery, Fire NWT announced that the blaze was most likely caused by a bear banger, a projectile that sounds like a gunshot and is used to scare away bears.

Crews have succeeded in limiting the spread of the fire, and were checking to see if there were any more hotspots.

Anyone with information to share about the cause of the fire is encouraged to contact NWT Fire at 867-445-3209.

As of Friday afternoon, there were no other fires of note in the Yellowknife area, and no new fires at all in the previous 24 hours, although smoke could be seen on the horizon and smelled in the air.

Across the territory, there have been 109 fires so far this year, affecting more than 160,000 hectares.