DiCaprio to donate $3 million for Australia wildfire relief

Posted: Jan 9, 2020 / 05:53 PM CST / Updated: Jan 9, 2020 / 05:53 PM CST

FILE – In this Monday, Dec. 30, 2019, aerial file photo, wildfires rage under plumes of smoke in Bairnsdale, Australia. U.S. officials said Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020 they planning to send at least 100 more firefighters to Australia to join 159 already there battling blazes that have killed multiple people and destroyed thousands of homes. (Glen Morey via AP, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental organization will donate $3 million to help wildfire relief efforts in Australia.

DiCaprio’s Earth Alliance said in a statement Thursday that it has started the Australia Wildfire Fund to help with an “international response to the catastrophic bushfires” currently raging in the country. The Academy Award-winning actor co-chairs the organization was launched last year to combat climate change and biodiversity loss.

The wildfires have scorched an area twice the size of the U.S. state of Maryland. DiCaprio joins a growing list of other celebrities that have rallied to donate big bucks including Chris Hemsworth, Elton John and Metallica.