Jay Leno Shares Details Of Burn Incident, “My Face Caught On Fire”

Today.com

In a new interview scheduled to air in full on Wednesday (December 14), Jay Leno shares details of the traumatic incident that left him with third-degree burns.

A clip shared Tuesday gives a brief preview of the interview Jay Leno did with the TODAY Show‘s Hoda Kotb, his first since the terrifying fire on November 12. In the video, Leno details the events leading up to the fire and how his friend saved him.

The beloved late night talk show host and his friend Dave Killackey were working on a vintage car in the garage of Leno’s California home.

“It was a 1907 White Steam Car,” the 72-year-old told Hoda Kotb. “The fuel line was clogged so I was underneath it. It sounded clogged and I said, ‘Blow some air through the line,’ and so he did. And then suddenly, boom, I got a face full of gas. And then the pilot light jumped and my face caught on fire.”

Leno then called to his friend to let him know he was on fire. Dave rushed to his friend, pulled him out from under the car and used his own body to smother the fire on Leno’s body.

The former The Tonight Show host was rushed to the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles.

He was admitted and received treatment for third-degree burns for 10 days. Leno suffered burns to his face, chest and hands and received temporary skin grafts from “human cadaver skin.”

Jay Leno posed for a photo with hospital staff as he said goodbye, revealing some of the burns to his face, neck and hand. https://t.co/BAe1zAiyG6

— ExtraTV (@extratv) November 21, 2022

Physicians who attended to Leno told TODAY that the tv personality has a “very high pain threshold” and described him as “very gracious” and “very friendly.”

Watch his full interview below.