Smoke from Tasman forest fire in Pigeon Valley surrounds Civil Defence base in Wakefield

Smoke from the Tasman fire has descended again to envelop the village of Wakefield, where the regional Civil Defence has established its headquarters and support centre.

"About 9 or 10 o'clock we had a shower of rain come through and the wind stopped," said Wakefield resident Dean McNamara, a Moutere/Waimea Ward councillor on the Tasman District Council.

"It looked quite peaceful up there," said McNamara, referring to Pigeon Valley, where the fire began.

"In the last half hour to hour the wind has started picking up again and the village is blanketed by smoke.

"We can't see up Pigeon Valley any more. It's all smoke," McNamara said from the Civil Defence Centre at St John's Church in Wakefield at just after 1pm today.

Tasman councillor Dean McNamara says the fire has destroyed homes in Redwood Valley.

Wakefield is 26km southwest of central Nelson and Pigeon Valley is just to the northwest of Wakefield.

McNamara said he didn't know anyone whose home had been destroyed by the fire.

"The only homes we've lost are on the Redwood Valley side."

He said the feeling at the Civil Defence Centre was low-key, with only a few fire evacuees present.

"There are maybe a couple of families based here but most people are with friends or family."