Jay Leno opens up about his accident: 'My face was on fire'

Former "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno continues to open up about the accident he experienced last month.

On Tuesday, he told People about the moment he was working underneath his 1907 white steam car and unclogging a fuel line when he "got a face full of gasoline."

"I knew how close I was to the pilot light and I thought 'Uh oh,'" he recalled thinking.

"It felt exactly like my face was on fire," Leno described. "Maybe like the most intense sunburn you've ever had, that'd be fair to say."

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The comedian, 72, suffered "serious" burns to his face, hands and chest during a fire at his home garage in early November. After receiving hyperbaric oxygen therapy and undergoing skin graft surgery for the "significant" and "deep" second-degree burns, he was released from the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Days after he was released, Leno returned to the stage and performed at a comedy club in Hermosa Beach, California. He said he wouldn't let the accident keep him from doing the things he enjoys.

"I'm sure I'll continue to do the same stupid things I've always done," he told the magazine. "Just maybe a little more carefully!"

Over the weekend, Leno told The Wall Street Journal that what happened was an accident and that anything you do in life comes with a "risk factor."

"It was an accident, that's all," he said. "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."

"Eight days later, I had a brand new face," he said. "And it's better than what was there before."

In addition to getting back to work after his accident, Leno said he is finding humor in what happened.

"You have to joke about it," he said. "There's nothing worse than whiny celebrities. If you joke about it, people laugh along with you."