The firefight in last year's Dixie Fire, which was paid for by the U.S. Forest Service using largely contracted local and private firefighting services, cost almost $640 million and ranks as the most expensive in history.

New satellite images and on-the-ground photos from Greenville, the Northern California town of about 1,000 people that was leveled by the flames of the Dixie Fire last week, paint a sad but increasingly familiar picture of a wildfire's wrath.

Not only could PG&E's equipment be responsible for the Dixie Fire, but the company has just submitted a report pointing to a tree being in contact with its power lines near the town of Quincy, in the area where the smaller Fly Fire began before it merged with the Dixie Fire.

The Dixie Fire, which despite its massive burn scar has so far been mostly burning through uninhabited forest in Butte and Plumas counties, continues raging in the area of Indian Falls, and the full extent of the damage won't be clear for a day or two.

Since starting July 14, the Dixie Fire has grown to over 181,289 acres in size — or roughly an area six times the acreage of San Francisco. And it's still only 19% contained.