Three properties have been destroyed by fires in Tasmania and the state’s fire service has warned more property could be lost as 12 emergency warnings remained in place on Tuesday afternoon.

The Tasmania Fire Service confirmed on Tuesday that three homes had been destroyed on Frypan and Bermuda roads in Glen Huon, in southern Tasmania, as a result of either ember attacks or direct combustion from radiant heat.

The fire service warned that high winds could mean more impact to properties in the Castle Forbes Bay area later in the day.

High winds and temperatures and a lack of rain meant that crews were likely to be battling the multiple fires across the state’s south and central plateau throughout the week.

On Tuesday afternoon, 12 warnings were in place in areas including Judbury, Franklin, Glen Huon and Geeveston, which were among several townships being affected by a fire in Riveaux Road.

In the central plateau, the Great Pine Tier fire led to emergency warnings for Jean Banks Road between Waddamana and Hermitage, and for the eastern side of the Highland Lakes Road between Interlaken Road and Weasel Plains Road.

Total fire bans remained in place across much of the state and the fire service warned it was expecting little relief.

While a cooler change was expected on Thursday, it was forecast to bring little rain and a wind change that could push the fire fronts into other areas.

“We were hopeful that this cold front that was coming through on Thursday was going to bring with it a little bit of rain so we could rest crews,” said the TFS district officer Andrew McGuiness.

“But unfortunately that’s just likely to change the wind direction and turn the northerly flank into a fire front, so that’s going to cause us more concern.”

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Chris Arnol, the TFS’s chief officer, said the owners of the three properties that were lost had been notified and their decision to leave early had “undoubtedly” saved their lives.

“We are grateful they are safe, that’s what’s important to us,” he said. “By all reports, their properties would have been undefendable. And the decision to leave early along with understanding our warnings was commendable.”

Arnol said he anticipated “that we will have further structural losses”. “But what we don’t want is loss of life. Leaving early is always the best option.”

On Tuesday, photos were released of damage to the Tahune AirWalk tourist attraction. Firefighters confirmed they were able to save the visitor centre at the site, but some smaller infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed.

The Parks and Wildlife Service said closures were in place at Mt Field national park, Hastings thermal pools and Freycinet national park.

The service said several fires were posing an immediate threat to high-value world heritage areas, particularly alpine areas in the Mt Field national park and Mount Bobs in the Southwest national park.

Researchers working on conservation of the state’s critically endangered swift parrot community said they also feared for valuable nesting habitat in the southern forests.

“This is burning that area that has already been deforested for logging,” said Dejan Stojanovic, a post-doctoral researcher with the Australian National University who is based in Tasmania.

“We’ve got as little as one third of the historic swift parrot habitat remaining there. Based on the size of this fire, it’s likely to have toasted a lot of what’s left and it’s still going.”