TROUTDALE -- Tall scorched toothpicks stand in place of trees near the top of the Angel's Rest trail, a signature trek that rewards hikers with a panoramic view of the Columbia River.

The sight from a flyover by a TV helicopter was a reminder that while the Eagle Creek fire hasn't blackened everything in its path, it's done some serious damage to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

"There is significant damage to the trails," Lt. Damon Simmons, a spokesman for the state fire marshal, said Thursday.

"You are going to see that when you are out there, said Simmons, offering a more sober take on the fire damage than he did the day before. "And it's going to take a while for them to recover."

The destruction includes downed trees across trails, rocks on paths, damaged pedestrian bridges and unstable landscape, he said.

Among the most popular attractions in the affected area besides Angel's Rest are Punchbowl Falls, Tunnel Falls, Horsetail Falls, Multnomah Falls, Wahkeena Falls and Eagle Creek. Photos also show flames engulfing the Oneonta Tunnel along the Historic Columbia Highway.

"To be clear, a fire did go through the gorge," Simmons said. "My point is it's very much a mosaic burn. There are definitely areas that will look very different."

U.S. Forest Service officials remain focused on safety and containing the fire, but they're beginning to think about assessing the fire's ravages and figuring out what comes next, said Forest Service spokesman Stephen Baker.

Right now, they simply don't know the extent of damage and lasting effects of the blaze, including restoration work and trail clearing, because the fire is still burning in the scenic area, which attracts about 2 million annual visitors.

Firefighters landed a small victory in the larger battle against the fire, announcing it had been 5 percent contained. The fire "laid down" overnight Wednesday into Thursday, allowing hundreds of firefighters to make modest inroads.

The fire started Saturday along the Eagle Creek Trail west of Cascade Locks and has burned 33,382 acres on mostly federal land and displaced 1,865 residents from Cascade Locks to Corbett and hundreds of animals, mostly livestock.

The weather has moderated from hot, windy conditions to higher humidity, lower temperatures in the 70s and even the possibility of a small dousing of rain.

Baker said the cooling trend is good news for firefighters, though crews also are keeping an eye out for the potential of lighting and wind, which could fan the fire

Hundreds of additional firefighters have poured into the region to help corral the fire. The teams include 329 structural firefighters, the largest number ever deployed to a single fire by the state fire marshal.

The fire is considered the nation's No. 1 priority because, in part, of its threat to the Bull Run Watershed, the Bonneville Power Administration and all the homes in the area, Simmons said.

U.S. Forest Service Chief Tony Tooke and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden are expected to tour the gorge this weekend.

Authorities suspect the fire began when a teenager threw fireworks into the canyon along the Eagle Creek Trail. Oregon State Police officials said the agency doesn't plan to publicly identify the prime suspect in the fire.

Originally, the agency planned to name the 15-year-old in the event of an arrest, but public comments prompted officials to reverse course, said Capt. Bill Fugate, a state police spokesman.

"There was some really nasty stuff out there about this kid," said Fugate, pointing to comments the state police have received about the youth on the agency's Facebook page. "For his safety, I think you can justify not releasing it."

Typically, he said, the agency would release the name of a minor in a high-profile crime.

"There is a lot of public interest, but it's on us if we release the name and something happens to this kid," he said.

Meanwhile, mandatory evacuation orders remain in place for multiple small communities. More than 200 people are still getting help from two shelters set up in Gresham and Stevenson, Wash., the Red Cross reported.

Forty miles of Interstate 84 remain closed in both directions through the gorge and the Historic Columbia River Highway is shut down.

The interstate will stay off-limits at least through the weekend, state transportation officials said. The westbound interstate will open first, the eastbound interstate will come next and the historic highway will be closed even longer.

Twenty miles of the Columbia River remain closed to most marine travelers, though the U.S. Coast Guard is allowing commercial vessels to pass through the area adjacent to the fire on a case-by-case basis.

The fire touched the Bull Run Watershed, but hasn't spread far.

Flames have reached the top of the watershed management area and firefighters are working on a plan to prevent the fire from progressing, said Traci Weaver, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

The watershed provides drinking water for nearly 1 million people.

So far, no one has been injured.

Thursday morning, a smoky haze hovered above the treetops south of a mostly abandoned Cascade Locks on the fire's east edge. Those weren't ideal conditions for flying a helicopter, but they were good enough for a dual-rotor Chinook helicopter to make short trips between the Columbia River and a smoking forest about a quarter-mile south of the nearest houses.

At those houses, a weary-looking band of Union-based "hotshots" - the elite corps of U.S. Forest Service wildland firefighters - trotted in the general direction of the water drops.

Nearby, a 20-person "line crew," armed with Pulaskis, shovels and hazel hoes walked up a gravel road. The crew had been working to create a fire line, said firefighter Ivan Ramirez of Salem.

Earlier in the day, fire managers had looked glumly at the sky and deemed the smoke cover too low to safely fly choppers near treetops and the cover too thick to accurately make water drops.

The addition of the helicopter was considered a tiny triumph.

Jim Ryan and Allan Brettman of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.

-- Noelle Crombie

ncrombie@oregonian.com

503-276-7184; @noellecrombie