Jay Leno Suffers Burns in Car Fire

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Jay Leno is, of course, most well-known for being a former host of the Tonight Show and a comedian. But he's also arguably one of America's most famous car enthusiasts/collectors -- and he even hosts a TV show on CNBC spotlighting his automotive passions.


He was apparently working on one of his cars when he was burned in a fire this weekend in Los Angeles.

"I got some serious burns from a gasoline fire. I am ok. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet," the 72-year-old Leno said in a statement to NBC News. He was reportedly hospitalized as of this afternoon.

According to reports, a flash fire burned Leno's face as he wrenched on one of his cars, and he was taken to Grossman Burn Center in West Hills.

A source told NBC News that Leno was "physically OK" but had suffered "some damage".

Leno canceled a scheduled performance in Las Vegas on Sunday, as well as any events he had scheduled for this week. I don't know if that includes any Los Angeles Auto Show events -- automakers often get celebs to take part in new-car launches during the show week. Leno may also have been attending events without fanfare -- a few years ago I spotted Leno standing quietly from across the room during a Jaguar Land Rover event during LA show week. He apparently snuck out before the mob of media and JLR employees noticed his presence.

It's a bummer that one of the ultimate car guys will be spending the media-day portion of the show recovering from his burns, but I'm glad it sounds like he'll be fine.

[Image: Jay Leno's Garage]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by  subscribing to our newsletter.


Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments
Join the conversation
7 of 33 comments
  • Spamvw Spamvw on Nov 15, 2022

    I heard just now it was in 1907 White Steam car.

  • UncleAL UncleAL on Nov 15, 2022

    hey.....why are you guys showing a Challenger in your photos to accompany the article........sounds like a lawsuit .....

    • EBFlex EBFlex on Nov 15, 2022

      Yeah that is shady TTAC.....without knowing the type of vehicle it would have been safer to put a Ford up there...or an EV


  • Jeff S Jeff S on Nov 15, 2022

    Good question but I know Jay owns a couple of Challengers one being a vintage one and he had a 2008 Challenger which he auctioned off for charity.

    • MRF 95 T-Bird MRF 95 T-Bird on Nov 15, 2022

      Leno featured a Challenger Hellcat in one of his shows. He also owns a vintage one.

      Speaking of fuel related fire incidents the VW Beetle can be notorious for having fuel line issues, be they cracking or drying out under the engine lid due to the heat which can lead to the vehicle going up in flames. Frequent checking and replacements are necessary.





  • Master Baiter Master Baiter on Nov 16, 2022

    Not surprising, considering the type of cars he collects.

Next