Apparently one of the cars in his garage suddenly caught fire and burned the left side of his face.

 

https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...-at-his-garage

 

Leaning over a carburetor when it backfired, perhaps?

 

Possibly; or, he doused the carburetor w/ fuel to get it started maybe. Gasoline was involved they stated.

 

Trying to fix a leak while running? Hard to say...
I bet you won't even be able to tell next year.

 

I wish him well in a speedy recovery. Burns especially at his tender age, (mine included) will take a lot longer to heal in the meantime extremely susceptible to infection. Jay actually pulled up a chair at the Oldsmobile Nationals In Dallas many years ago. Nice time...

 

Jay Leno's Employee Says 'He's in Great Spirits' After Suffering Gas Spray Burn from Steam Car

 

A steam car with a gasoline burner? Well, I guess it's more efficient than wood or coal.

 

I've watched several of Jay's steam car videos on YouTube over the years. I wonder if it was his Stanley Steamer with the fire tube boiler while igniting the branch fork tube. Yes, a back fire.

 

Steam cars... Holy dangerous situation Bat man.

I am sure details will come out. Leno told TMZ that he may require skin grafts on his face. Yikes. Burns are just horrible. I worked at Children's Hospital out here in Denver. Burn unit was brutal. I couldn't take it.

 

I am sorry to hear this, I hope he has a speedy recovery with the least pain as possible, and returns to his CARS soon.

Bob

 

Horrible news. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

 

I was being told early on by a source it was his 1907 White steam car and if so, it is the car he took us for a ride in and broke down. I later heard news reports it is his 1909 so we will have to wait and see what car it really was. I text him yesterday at 5:00 and he text me back at 7:00 and said he would call me soon. I am sure his phone is blowing up but he took time and was able to reply.

 

Maybe get a few mechanics, I mean I don’t do stand up on the weekends.

 

A REAL car guy, and mechanical in general. Whether you appreciate his comedy or not, the man is dialed in and drives everything he owns, (which is unbelievably diverse and impressive). Like Eric, hope to have the pleasure and privilege one day. I wish him a speedy recovery.

 

I have never heard anybody say anything bad about Jay. I would love to just be able to see him and be fortunate enough to shake his hand one day. Get well soon Jay. There are lots of folks pulling for you.

 

Can we form a "get well soon" electronic card for all to sign with well wishes and have it forwarded ? For our Car guy hero. He's a collector extraordinaire and a hands on kinda guy too.
Let him know that fellow car guys are thinking of him, he may get a chuckle !

 

That is a great idea. Now who is capable of doing this?

 

1907 White steam car is now implicated:

https://apple.news/AJS4_9AR5QSynmcYUW4AAIA

 

That I don't know ! I'm far from capable.

 

I was told by his guy it was the 1907 but later a news report said 1909. Now today, there is a report that Jay give a statement himself that it was a 1910. That said, Jay referred to his 1907 as a 1909 when I was there and then corrected himself. At this point I would say we will have to wait longer before we really know what car it was. With what happened with the 1907 when I was there I could very much see how an accident could have occurred with the fuel pipe we were working on. We were trying to reposition the pipe and also clean the nozzle. That fuel was under pressure and if the pipe would have broke when we were trying to reposition it, it would have been shooting fuel from a 1/2 inch pipe instead of a nozzle. No question that the seam cars were made before OSHA was a thing, lol

 

I suppose you could make a pdf of a bunch of lines of texts and pics of sigs, then print it on nice stock and mail it.

 

Why not simply create a thread here on CO with an appropriate title (To: Jay; From Classic Oldsmobile Members), each CO member create a post, when finished send him the URL link.

 

Leno update:

https://apple.news/A-YQzVJDdRnacFLIlnAvnag

 

We all send Jay our love, appreciation, and best wishes for complete recovery.

And there's a lesson in here for all of us.

I spent much of my career designing industrial equipment and supervising installation. And in that time I saw construction go from a cowboy culture to what sometimes can appear to be an over-the-top emphasis on safety.

For example, in construction today, if anyone is working with flammables or ignition sources, there must be a dedicated person there with suitable equipment to deal with any possible problem.

The person working must wear suitable protective clothing and equipment.

This is specified in the safety analysis that must be created before the start of each job. And it has resulted in far fewer injuries and far less personal suffering in the construction industry.

Most of us (me too unless I catch myself) still use the cowboy culture when it comes to fixing our cars. No one is there to require us to do a safety analysis.

Let's all learn from Jay's experience and put thought into each task about what might go wrong and create a plan to minimize potential problems.

 

We just had a fatality at my company's Kentucky plant. Possibly the first US company employee; we've had contractors get killed a couple times. Dudes were moving heavy tool lockers on a fork truck, load shifted, guy tried to stabilize it and got crushed. Bad calls about three different ways. We have teams of guys who are just so happy to not be on the lines that they are gung ho rough carpenters and movers and shakers, and that was the guy's job, he was on a pilot team doing site work. Not an engineer, or a maintenance guy, or an industrial contractor, but just a dude doing some abnormal, uncomplicated, but dangerous work.

It's the small job that will get you. Wear safety glasses. Have a fire extinguisher. Turn the electrical power off before working on something. Use jack stands (multiple) if getting under a car. Set parking brake, block wheels, and have room to dive if working on adjusting idle on a car in gear. Use a siphon pump; don't suck gas. Put cardboard under where you're heaving under the car so you punch the cardboard, not the concrete, when it breaks free. Cut old hoses off that are being replaced, don't just pull hard. Earplugs for loud things. Know when to wear gloves. Know when to not wear gloves. Double check the hood is latched.

 

And do not attempt garage door repairs unless you really know what you're doing and you probably don't. I have over forty yrs doing said work and sometime we get hurt with proper tools and experience. But I've sure been to many homes where the homeowner spent the day before in the hospital for an injury and the blood has been cleaned off the floor. It's the big commercial doors that do in door guys, they're dangerous as all get out !!

 

No lie on the garage door fixing. I saw many people with years of experience get put on their butts tensioning springs. They are no joke

 

For sure confirmed that it was the 1907 White. He said he is very busy but did not update his condition.

 

Leno discharged from hospital:

https://apple.news/AIkJt8p7BTUmRTD3YJ8uYXA

 

That's great news. Appears in good spirits (as always) and not "so" bad.

 

That's good, so glad for him being able to be home on Thanksgiving. Here's hoping he heals fast and well.

 

Was it an olds he was working on?

 

No, it was a White. Refer to posts 19 and 29

 

What was this spark that stared the whole thing?

 

I hope he has a full video on it in the future. What very little experience I had with him on the side of the road with that car I could easily envision several scenarios that could have caused it and likely ended up being something different than I thought of. These were made before OSHA was a thing, lol. Something we done on the side of the road to get it going again could have potentially caused a huge fire as well. We were pulling and pushing on a fuel pipe that was next to the steam generator at full temp. Had the pipe cracked while we were trying to move it we would have had a really big mess when he turned the fuel back on. I am totally fascinated by steam power but it has 1000 things that are dangerous by todays standards.

 

Its being reported, Jay returned to the stage last night.

Jay," They'll be two shows tonight, one regular and one extra crispy".

 

Here's an interview Jay did with the Today show. Glad he's recovered.

 

Couldn't believe how good he looks. Good for him.

 

Great interview. Great human being. So happy he's in great spirits and looks astonishingly well. What a guy.