LOS ANGELES (TIP): Nearly 200,000 residents have now been evacuated due to California wildfires as crews pivot to fight a new blaze, says a BBC report.

Some 5,000 firefighters have been battling four brushfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes in the south of the state.

The number of evacuees nearly quadrupled on Thursday, December 7, as a fifth fire broke out north of San Diego.

One death has been reported so far – a woman’s body was found in a burned-out area in Ventura County.l

By Thursday afternoon local time, California’s fire service said the blaze had forced the evacuation of 189,000 residents.

The newest blaze, the Lilac fire, has scorched at least 2,500 acres (1,000 hectares), the state fire authority said on Twitter.

California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in the area.

The White House said it was in contact with Californian authorities and ready to offer whatever help is needed.

Authorities have issued a purple alert – the highest level warning – amid what it called “extremely critical fire weather”.

The powerful desert-heated Santa Ana winds have been fanning the flames.

The University of California, Los Angeles cancelled all classes on Thursday.

Though its campus lies outside the evacuation zone on the city’s west side, it said it took the decision “given the array of uncertainties”.