Leno said he was working on a 1907 White Steam Car when 'suddenly, boom' he caught fire.
Jay Leno is opening up about the incident that led to third-degree burns on his face in his first sit-down TV interview with Hoda Kotb.
In a preview of the interview set to air in full on Wednesday's Today show, the 72-year-old comedian explains what transpired before his face caught on fire. The former host of The Tonight Show said he was pretty lucky that his friend, Dave Killackey, was there to literally save his life.
"It was a 1907 White Steam Car," Leno tells 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."
Leno then says that "suddenly, boom, I got a face full of gas. And then the pilot light jumped and my face caught on fire."
He adds, "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."
After suffering second- and third-degree burns on his face and hands, Leno spent 10 days at the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles. Despite the serious injuries, Leno performed at the Comedy Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California, days after he was released from the hospital and cracked jokes at his own expense. When asked if he was nervous, Leno said no and added there were two shows, "regular and extra crispy."
He also recently joked about the experience in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
"Eight days later, I had a brand new face. And it’s better than what was there before," he quipped. "But really, it was an accident, that’s all. Anybody who works with their hands on a regular basis is going to have an accident at some point. If you play football, you get a concussion or a broken leg. Anything you do, there’s a risk factor."
He added, "You have to joke about it. There’s nothing worse than whiny celebrities. If you joke about it, people laugh along with you."
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