Sophie Brocas, the prefect of Gironde, authorized residents of nine more municipalities to return home Thursday. That brought to 144,000 the number cleared to go back, and the A63 motorway reopened in both directions at 2 p.m., her office said. The prefecture said 231 firefighters have been injured and 240 homes destroyed, and that smoke has left the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region under an episode of degraded air quality. Smaller fires continue to burn in southern France, including one in Brignoles that has forced actor George Clooney and his family to evacuate their estate.
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