Jay Leno tells how his 1907 steam car burst into flames and shares new photos of his horrific burns

Former ‘Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno is opening up for the first time after suffering burns when the steam engine he was working on burst into flames. 

Leno, 72, shared new photos with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb on Wednesday and showed the horrific burns to his face while reliving the ordeal.

The iconic TV host and his friend Dave Killackey were working on one of his beloved vintage cars at his LA mansion on November 12 when his 1907 White Steam Car erupted into flames. 

Leno credits his friend Killackey with saving his life. Killackey jumped into action and wrapped his arms around Leno, smothering the fire. 

Leno was rushed to the Grossman Burn Center in West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles where he was treated for third-degree burns and released 10 days later. 

Former ‘Tonight Show’ host Jay Leno is opening up for the first time after suffering burns when the steam engine he was working on burst into flames

Leno, 72, shared new photos with TODAY’s Hoda Kotb on Wednesday and showed the horrific burns to his face while reliving the ordeal

Leno recalled the frightening accident on the TODAY Show Wednesday. 

‘It was a 1907 white steam car,’ Leno recalled to 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 suddenly, boom, I got a face full of gas,’ he continued. ‘And then the pilot light jumped and my face caught on fire.’

‘And 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 said.

Killackey, who also appeared on the TODAY Show, talked about what he did to help his friend. 

‘I grabbed his head and pulled him into my chest,’ he recalled. ‘I started to smother the fire.’

Temporary skin grafts from ‘human cadaver skin’ were added tp the comedian’s body, Dr. Peter Grossman said Leno suffered ‘relatively serious’ burns to ‘approximately 7 percent of his body’

He performed skin grafts on the star, removing his burnt skin and replacing it with skin from a skin bank. He noted that ‘much of the thickness of the skin was injured’

After keeping Leno’s entire body from being engulfed in flames, he put out the car fire.  

When asked by Kotb how bad he thought his friend’s injuries were, he replied ‘well, it wasn’t good.’ 

‘He downplays it,’ he said looking at Leno. ‘But it was horrific. It was a scary thing. When the first two layers [of skin] are peeling off right now, this is an issue.’

Dr. Peter Grossman told NBC News that Leno suffered ‘relatively serious’ burns to ‘approximately seven percent of his body,’ including his face, chest and hands.

He performed skin grafts on the star, removing his burnt skin and replacing it with skin from a skin bank. He noted that ‘much of the thickness of the skin was injured.’

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Leno’s friend Dave Killackey, also appeared on the TODAY Show, and talked about what he did to help his friend by smothering Leno’s body to keep it being form engulfed in flames

Leno had previously shared details on his extensive collection of Barrons.com, sharing more details on how he acquired the lot of old-school cars

Leno had previously shared details on his extensive collection of Barrons.com, sharing more details on how he acquired the lot of old-school cars.

The steam cars, which he had said are ‘reliable and dependable,’ require a boiler to heat water to steam which then is used to drive a piston that turns the vehicle’s wheels.

In 2021, the ‘Tonight Show’ veteran was actually stopped in his 1906 Stanley Steamer for speeding on Interstate 405 in California.

Leno’s steam collection includes ‘cars, stationary engines, and even an enormous Advance steam tractor,’ according to the 2021 story published by Barrons.

Following the incident inside his garage, he canceled a performance in Las Vegas scheduled for the next day after event organizers revealed he suffered a ‘serious medical emergency.’

The Jay Leno’s Garage star has more than 180 vehicles including exotic cars, hypercars and museum-grade artifacts, according to US News & World Report.

His collection includes vehicles which are both affordable and attainable, with an affinity for motor vehicles.