PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — A car bomb that detonated outside a fertility clinic threatened not only a building, but the stored embryos of thousands of patients. It was firefighters who stepped in to prevent a devastating loss.
The explosion tore through the American Reproductive Centers building on May 17, severely damaging the facility and cutting power to critical embryo incubators. While the cryogenic storage tanks could withstand temporary outages, embryos in the process of incubation faced irreversible loss if electricity wasn’t restored within hours.
Palm Springs Deputy Fire Chief Greg Lyle was off duty when he got the alert.
“It was a normal day off,” he told NBC Palm Springs, “but I heard enough in the alert to know I had to get there.”
When Lyle arrived at the scene, first responders had been pulled back over concerns of structural collapse and a possible secondary device, CNN reports. But with the embryo lab potentially intact, Lyle proposed entering the building to assess the equipment and restore power. FBI Agent Chris Meltzer agreed to go with him.
“I just had a gut feeling it had to be me,” Lyle told CNN.
The pair navigated the wreckage — buckled walls, standing water and unstable framing — until they located the lab. It was clear the equipment was too large and too fragile to move. The only solution: get the power back on.
“[Meltzer] and I were together in our thinkings, and at one point verbalized, you know, hey, if we don’t do something, the bad guy wins,” Lyle told NBC Palm Springs.
After safely exiting, Lyle and Meltzer rallied a team of firefighters, bomb technicians and law enforcement to restore electricity to the equipment. The plan worked. Power was returned just in time to save the embryos.
Clinic director Dr. Maher Abdallah later confirmed that an additional hour or two without electricity could have resulted in losses.
What Lyle didn’t know at the time: some of those embryos belonged to the wife of one of his own firefighters.
“It kind of hit home there. I didn’t even know,” he told CNN.
But the job wasn’t finished.
With treatment schedules still on track for many patients, medical records and equipment needed to be retrieved from the most heavily damaged part of the building. Again, firefighters stepped in.
“We needed a team of people to kind of bucket brigade all these folders out,” Lyle said. Along with the documents, the team recovered two new ultrasound machines.
Less than 48 hours after the attack, the clinic resumed patient care from a borrowed space.
“In the midst of tragedy comes triumph,” Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills wrote on Instagram. “God, I love this profession and am honored to walk in the presence of giants.”
The FBI later said the suspect, who died in the blast, had attempted to record the attack and posted disturbing messages online. The FBI confirmed it is treating the bombing as an intentional act of terrorism.
Yet, thanks to the decisive actions of Lyle, Meltzer and their teams, countless families still have hope.
