'Suddenly, boom!' Jay Leno reveals horrifying details of explosion that left him with third-degree burns
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jay Leno has discussed how a garage fire last month caused him to suffer second and third-degree burns. In an interview with Hoda Kotb from NBC News, the former Tonight Show host described how simple mechanical work on one of his vintage cars specifically, a 1907 White Steam Car, turned it ugly in a matter of seconds.
Jay claims that he was trying to clear a gasoline line last month while working on a 1907 White Steam Car in his Burbank garage. He claims that after telling his friend Dave Killackey to blow some air into the fuel line, he was abruptly smacked with a face full of gasoline. From that point on, he claims, things only got worse, per news from TMZ.
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“The fuel line was clogged so I was underneath it,” Leno says in a clip from a sit-down interview set to air on Wednesday’s Today. “It sounded clogged and I said, ‘Blow some air through the line,’ and so he did.” Leno recalls that the fuel line made a noise, “And suddenly, boom, I got a face full of gas. And then the pilot light jumped and my face caught on fire.
When the fuel in the car was ignited by the pilot light, according to Jay, his face caught fire and he yelled to his friend, "I'm on fire." Fortunately, Jay reports that Dave was Johnny at that time and pulled him from danger and jumped on top of him to put out the fire. “I said to my friend, I said, ‘Dave, I’m on fire.’ And Dave’s like, ‘All right.’ I said, ‘No, Dave, I’m on fire.’ And then, ‘Oh, my God.’ Dave, my friend, pulled me out and jumped on top of me and kind of smothered the fire,” Leno explains.
Leno sustained "relatively serious" burns to "approximately seven percent" of his body, including his face, chest, and hands, according to director Dr. Peter Grossman. He added Leno underwent temporary skin grafts from "human cadaver skin," and appeared to have a "very high pain threshold." “He’s also very stoic individual and he’s just not one who wants to complain,” Grossman said, per reported by MNS.
As of now, Jay is already back to business as usual. He recalls the terrifying episode with a laid-back attitude, which is consistent with how he has behaved following the accident, such as when he returned to the same garage just 10 days later and was making jokes to photographers.
Jay had postponed some gigs while he was in the hospital. However, when the former "Jay Leno's Garage" host was discharged from the burn center, he immediately returned to what he does best—making people laugh, even at his own expense—by performing at his regular Sunday night show in Hermosa Beach.
People were quick to respond on social media, with one commenting, "Be careful if you have a gas water heater in your garage, they have pilot lights (small flames) which can ignite gasoline vapors." Another said, "Sounds like a lie to me." While a third tweeted, "Jay Leno represents the best of America. So glad he's doing so well he's performing tonight. He's a national treasure."
Be careful if you have a gas water heater in your garage, they have pilot lights (small flames) which can ignite gasoline vapors
— Reactor99 (@Reactor9921) December 14, 2022
Jay Leno represents the best of America. So glad he's doing so well he's performing tonight. He's a national treasure.
— Jefferson Bailey (@JeffersonBaile6) December 13, 2022
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