UPDATE: The latest update by TDOT on Saturday just before 4 p.m., in on ‘X’; Mark Nagi with TDOT posts US 129 “The Dragon” is now back open.

Blount County, TN (WOKI) A stretch of The Dragon, also known as U.S. 129 and a popular route for drivers in Blount County, has been closed because of a wildfire.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation shut down the road Friday afternoon from the state line to the Chilhowee Dam.

Officials with the Blount County Sheriff’s Office echoing TDOT saying the 11 mile stretch would be closed for an extended time as the fire, which broke out this morning, had jumped the roadway.

There is no word yet on the size or scope of the fire.