Tasmania has called for interstate aerial assistance to fight a bushfire that has destroyed two homes, as other residents pick up the pieces following another blaze.

The out-of-control fire between Dianas Basin and Stieglitz, near St Helens on Tasmania’s north-east coast, has twice risen to an emergency warning since igniting early on Tuesday afternoon.

The blaze has burned about 1400 hectares, cut power to about 800 homes and prompted the evacuation of residents and two caravan parks in the area.

Two houses were confirmed destroyed but no injuries have been reported.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Tasmania Fire Service incident controller David Casteller told reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

“We’ve also lost some other outbuildings and caravans but considering the conditions that our crews faced last night they have done fantastic job.

“The extent of the fire over such a large area really stretched our resources.”

Weather conditions have turned more favourable for firefighters on Wednesday afternoon, with the threat downgraded to watch and act.

Four water bombers were among five aerial resources attacking the blaze but the Tasmania Fire Service was keen for more help from above.

“There has been a request put through for some assistance from the mainland,” Casteller said.

“I believe that hasn’t arrived at this stage.”

Some locals decided to stay to protect their homes but about 40 people went to a evacuation centre in St Helens on Tuesday night.

Tasmania Police inspector Luke Manhood was unsure when residents would be able to get back to assess the damage.

“We’ve got power lines down, we’ve got trees that have fallen and we’ve got some large trees in the area that are at risk of falling,” he said.

A shack destroyed in the Dolphin Sands fire. Photo: Rhian Shephard / Facebook

Further south, people have returned to inspect the damage wrought by a large blaze at Dolphin Sands, near Freycinet National Park.

Nineteen homes were destroyed and 14 others sustained some damage in the fire sparked in the seaside community on Thursday.

Maree Lodge, her husband, two daughters and parents were staying on friend Tim Flanagan’s property when the blaze forced a swift evacuation.

They left their caravan behind and drove to the beach before being escorted out of danger by a volunteer firefighter.

Lodge found the shack and caravan reduced to rubble when allowed back on Tuesday.

“It was like a moonscape everywhere,” she told AAP.

The family recently returned to Tasmania after living in the caravan on the mainland so her medically fragile daughter could receive therapy.

“We salvaged a frypan and stuff into a shoebox just for memories,” Lodge said.

“We are going to slowly chip away at rebuilding what we need in our lives.”

Flanagan, who was not there at the time of the fire, praised emergency workers and was pleased everyone escaped unharmed.

“We have been going to Dolphin Sands for over 30 years and this is the most damaging fire in that time,” he said.

In NSW on Sunday night, experienced firefighter John Lohan died after being struck by a falling tree while battling a major fire at Bulahdelah on the Mid North Coast.

Lohan was the first NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service firefighter to die on the job since 2011 and the third person killed in a bushfire-related incident in recent weeks.

NSW Rural Fire Service commissioner Trent Curtin visited fire crews in Bulahdelah on Tuesday and said they were getting on with the job while mourning the tragic loss.

“We’ve felt that right across the firefighting fraternity,” Curtin told ABC TV.

High fire danger ratings remain in place for much of inland NSW on Wednesday, but widespread rain may offer a reprieve for tired crews.

“We really hope that this rain hits in all the right places to bring under control some of those fires that we’re finding really, really difficult, particularly around the Upper Hunter region,” Curtin said.

–AAP