Jay Leno Tells Hoda Kotb About Horrific Burn Accident: ‘My Face Caught On Fire’ (VIDEO)
Jay Leno stopped by the Today show this week to share details about the garage fire that left him with third-degree burns, revealing that his whole face caught fire.
Speaking to Today‘s Hoda Kotb for a sit-down interview, which aired Tuesday, December 14, the former Tonight Show host recalled how the fire started and how his friend Dave Killackey helped save him by putting out the flames.
The incident occurred last month when Leno and Killackey were working on one of the comedian’s vintage cars in the garage of his Los Angeles area home.
“It was a 1907 White Steam Car,” Leno shared. “The fuel line was clogged, so I was underneath it. It sounded clogged, and I said, ‘Blow some air through the line,’ and so [Killackey] did.”
Thankfully, Leno’s longtime friend Dave Killackey was standing just a few feet away.
“I couldn’t see his face. It was a wall of fire,” Killackey described. pic.twitter.com/BGChkiq9Ld
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 14, 2022
Leno recalled how 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.” Thankfully, Killackey was close-by and was able to help smother the fire before it spread further.
“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 explained.
Kotb also spoke to Killackey, who said, “I couldn’t even see his face. He downplays it all, but I’m telling you, he was really engulfed… It was a wall of fire.”
After the accident, Leno was taken to the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles, where he stayed for 10 days and underwent treatment for third-degree burns. The facility’s director, Dr. Peter Grossman, previously told NBC News that Leno suffered “relatively serious burns to approximately 7% of his body,” including his face, chest, and hands.
Today, Week mornings, 7/6 c, NBC
