Clooneys Evacuate France Home Amid Record Wildfires

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- George and Amal Clooney evacuated their home in Brignoles, southeastern France, with their nine-year-old twins Alexander and Ella as wildfires spread through the region.
- The Clooneys wrote to Brignoles mayor Didier Brémond that they have "no idea whether our beautiful home makes it through this terrible moment," pledging to remain part of the community and help rebuild.
- Clooney told Esquire last year that France is his primary residence; the family received French citizenship in December, and he cited wanting to raise children away from Hollywood culture and paparazzi.
- Wildfires are burning across France, England, Spain, and Greece, where three firefighters have died, according to the source.
- Spain has evacuated approximately 63,000 people, while France's Gironde region has evacuated around 224,000 people — though some were allowed back home this week, not all fires are under control.
- President Emmanuel Macron called the crisis "the most severe we have ever recorded, the toughest since the Second World War," noting more than 160,000 hectares have already burned and "the season is far from over."
Why it matters: The Clooneys' public evacuation puts a celebrity face on Europe's worst wildfire season since WWII, with over 160,000 hectares burned and roughly 287,000 people displaced across France and Spain alone. Their handwritten commitment to rebuild Brignoles ties personal wealth and visibility to a community recovery effort, while Macron's "unprecedented" framing reframes the crisis as a continent-wide emergency rather than a regional one.



