Leno told People he drove himself to the burn center right after he suffered burns on his face, arms, and hands in a gasoline fire.
Jay Leno participated in his first video interview since suffering serious burns from a gasoline fire that took place at his private car storage facility in mid-November. Speaking with People, Leno went into detail about the events leading up to and following the incident.
Leno was working on this 1907 White Model G steam car with longtime friend Dave Killackey when the incident occurred.
“The fuel line was clogged so I was underneath it,” Leno recalled. “Gas wasn’t coming through fast enough and I said, ‘Blow some air through the line,’ and so he did. And of course I got a face full of gas and sort of lit my face on fire.”
Killackey was quick to act, pulling Leno from underneath the car and smothering him to extinguish the flames.
“Dave pulled me out and just smothered me, about 10 seconds later,” Leno told People. “Any longer than that I probably would’ve lost the eye.”
Paramedics arrived shortly after the incident and immediately rushed Leno to a local hospital, who ordered him to be transferred to the Grossman Burn Center. Amazingly, Leno said he drove himself to the burn center. Doctors told him he needed to be admitted right away, but he declined as he hadn’t yet informed his wife about the burns. So he drove himself home, spent the night at his house, and went back to the burn center the next morning to be admitted.
Leno received skin grafts to his face and arms, detailing his time at the hospital and all the people who reached out to wish him well.
“Travolta sent me a big Italian basket, Tom Selleck sent me these flowers, Russel Crowe called from Australia,” Leno said. “It was really touching, I was really moved by it.”
“When you work on cars you have a lot of accidents,” Jay said. “This was 10 days total in intensive care then I’m out. I had no face two weeks ago, and now it’s like okay (sic). I tried to get the Clooney face but that wasn’t available.”
Brian Silvestro Road & Track staff writer with a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing.
Keyword: Jay Leno Shares Detail of Fire in First Interview: 'My Face Was on Fire'