Ardee NapolitanoJuly 31, 2026 — 5:55amParis: Hollywood actor George Clooney and his British wife Amal, an international human rights lawyer, have evacuated their luxury home in south-eastern France as a result of the wildfires blazing in the region.The star behind the Ocean’s Eleven franchise and other films made the statement on Thursday (France time) in a letter to Didier Bremond, the mayor of the town of Brignoles, about 90 kilometres east of Marseille, Clooney’s publicist Guido Gotz said in an email.George and Amal Clooney.Alberto Pezzali/Invision/APAddressed “Dear Didier”, the letter said the Clooneys had “no idea whether our beautiful home makes it through this terrible moment”.But as they evacuate Brignoles they wanted to assure Bremond that, whatever happened to the community, “we’ll be part of making it whole”, the letter said.The Clooneys bought their home on a vineyard in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in 2021 when it had an estimated value of about €9 million ($15 million). In an interview with Esquire last October, Clooney described their “farm in France” as their primary residence.The fire near Brignoles broke out Wednesday afternoon and burned some 100 hectares, local officials said. The blaze was far smaller than a vast inferno that has swept up the region around Bordeaux in southwestern France in recent days.About 700 residents from the areas near Brignoles had been evacuated, but were allowed to return to their homes on Thursday after the fire was brought under control, the officials said.Water-bombing helicopters remained deployed over the area after the evacuation order was lifted, the regional administration said. It said weather conditions remained unfavorable, with high temperatures and winds expected to pick up again in the afternoon.The French government in December announced that the Clooneys along with their twins Ella and Alexander were awarded French citizenship.In the Esquire interview, Clooney said part of the impetus for the move to France was that he was “worried about raising our kids in LA, in the culture of Hollywood”.US President Donald Trump seemingly welcomed the news the pair had been granted French citizenship, calling them “two of the worst political prognosticators of all time” and claiming the actor was better known for his politics than his “totally mediocre movies”.But George Clooney hit back, saying he also wanted to “make America great again” – starting with the US midterm elections in November.Europe is sweltering under an exceptionally hot and arid summer, creating tinderbox conditions for unprecedented fires that have flared from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean and forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate homes and vacation spots.Firefighters also battled flames in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, Greece and Turkey on Thursday and were tamping down smouldering forests in southwest France where 224,000 people had been forced to flee. Romania shut down both reactors at its Cernavoda nuclear power plant due to low water levels in the Danube River used to cool them.A firefighting aircraft releases fire retardant in Lanton.Getty ImagesIn the Bordeaux region, wildfire evacuees streamed back to nine localities that authorities now deem safe after round-the-clock combat with the huge fire that ignited last week.“It’s the first somewhat optimistic day,” said Sophie Brocas, prefect of Bordeaux’s Gironde region who gave the go-ahead for nearly two-thirds of the 224,000 evacuees to go home, including 60,000 allowed back to three Bordeaux suburbs on Tuesday.Authorities said the blaze is no longer growing beyond the 420 square kilometres already affected – an area four times that of Paris. A heat wave – France’s fourth of the year – gave way Thursday to cooler weather, higher humidity and even a little rain, helping the effort.Reuters, APGet a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.From our partners