Major wildfire burning in Florida's Big Bend

PERRY, Florida (CNN) -- A major wildfire straddled two counties in northwest Florida on Saturday, burning more than 54,000 acres in what one official said was the largest fire the state has ever seen.

Smoke from the Mallory Swamp fire and another fire in south Georgia were affecting the air quality in towns as far away as Savannah, Georgia, and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, nearly 300 miles northeast.

Ira Jolly, a spokesman for the state's Forest Protection Bureau, called the Mallory Swamp fire "one of the largest ever in the state of Florida." The blaze began May 14 after a lightning strike.

A spokeswoman with the Florida Division of Forestry said more than 300 firefighters were working the fire late Saturday afternoon and that the number was growing. Ludie Ehlers said the National Guard had been called out and firefighters from North Carolina and South Carolina were on their way to Florida.

RESOURCES CNN weather forecast for Perry, Florida

Firefighting efforts were focused on protecting buildings, with several communities threatened in Dixie and Lafayette counties, in Florida's Big Bend. Voluntary evacuations had been called in Lafayette, Jolly said.

He said high winds, low humidity, an abundance of fuel and a lack of access to the fire had combined to make firefighting efforts extremely difficult.

"It's still very dangerous," Jolly said. "Today's conditions are about the worst we've had all week."

Jolly added it was too dangerous to put people in front of the fire and that crews were working its flanks at this point. Federal and state agencies reported the fire was only 15 percent contained.

Firefighting efforts were being transferred from local firefighting units to state and federal firefighting agencies, expected to take control of operations by 5 p.m. Ground crews, helicopters and air tankers had been called in to help.

The Florida Division of Forestry reported there had been 2,825 fires statewide, burning 254,360 acres, since January 1. Combined with fires tracked separately by federal agencies, more than 302,068 acres had burned since the beginning of the year -- more than half the total acreage scorched nationwide so far this year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Florida's Forest Protection Bureau said more acres of land had been burned so far in 2001 than are normally scorched in an entire year. They cited the ongoing drought in Florida and weather conditions as the major factors in this year's fire season.

Agencies report the fire danger as very high to extreme.