MTFCA Forum

Two days ago Jay Leno was badly burned on the left side of his face, on his left arm and right hand in a fire in his garage caused by his 1907 White 30 HP Steam car when pressurized gasoline, which is used to ignite the steam boiler, sprayed on his face and arms and ignited. You can see a video of one of his shows where he demonstrates the complicated procedure of firing up the boiler on the very car that caused the accident. Just do a search of “Jay Leno’s 1907, 30 HP White Steam Car”. Even in the video he introduced too much gasoline in the pilot and almost caused a fire. Back to the accident…Luckily, Jay’s friend was closeby and immediately jumped on Jay and smothered the fire. Even with this quick action, Jay suffered 3rd degree burns and has since, undergone skin graft surgery and is now in a hyperbaric chamber which aids in the healing of burns. Though it is serious, they expect him to eventually fully recover with minimal scarring, but burns take a lot of time to heal. Accidents can happen very suddenly to anyone of us no matter how experienced we are, so everyone be careful out there. Don’t let an accident ruin your day or your life. Keep a fire extinguisher closeby. Jim Patrick

Steam car burners are serious and missteps are hazardous.

Having run Stanley's ( all be it c a white steamer )
This was always most never c racking part lighting compressed gasoline
For the pilot burner
Best wishes to Jay for full recovery

NEVER let volatile fuel accumulate.

If that picture is of him, I think it will take more than a couple weeks to recover. He might need skin grafts.
He is in my prayers.
Norm

He has already undergone the first phase of skin graft surgery using skin that is not his own. I would assume cadaver skin, but am not sure. There will be following surgeries eventually using his own skin and compression bandages to keep down the disfiguring scarring that can result from 3rd degree burns. A very daunting and time consuming treatment. I envy him his money and car collection, but do not envy what he is now going through. I was involved in a house fire on March 8, 1986 and had my face and arms burned. The sound of your own skin burning in itself is horrific. It sounds like sizzling bacon as it bubbles from the fire and hangs to the floor. I had to gather my skin up in my hands so as not to step on it in order to make my way through the fire to escape? I spent 2 weeks in the hospital and recovered with no noticeable scars, but the memory of the event and the pain will always live on in my mind. Thirty six years later, the faint smell of a fire in the neighborhood brings it all back. Nothing worse than the pain of a severe burn. Jim Patrick

I certainly hope the best for Mr. Leno's recovery from that experience. We all have come close to disaster before if we have worked on cars much.
This is that particular car when Mr. Wiliams owned it. It shows the fuel nozzle and induction tube at that time. Mr. Hemple restored the car and I saw it a few times when he was restoring it and on tours. I enjoyed some great rides on later tours. The guys here are lamenting that Mr. Hemple passed away before sharing the secrets of proper pressure valve adjustments.
Mr. Leno's is able to do what the cars require these days while others don't have those resources. I miss having the cars as accessible.
Rich