Palm Springs fire official unknowingly saved colleague's embryos in deadly blast

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KABC) -- A Palm Springs deputy fire chief unknowingly saved the embryos of one of his colleagues after a vehicle explosion outside a fertility clinic over the weekend.

FBI investigators are calling the attack an act of terrorism. Officials said Guy Edward Bartkus of Twentynine Palms intentionally killed himself in the apparent car bomb detonation Saturday that damaged the clinic.

"This was a targeted attack against the IVF facility," said Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles field office. "Make no mistake: we are treating this, as I said yesterday, as an intentional act of terrorism."

Palm Springs Deputy Fire Chief Greg Lyle told ABC News he pleaded with the FBI special agent in charge to go inside the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic -- which was compromised with structural damage -- and check on the embryos after the blast, telling them, "there are hopes and dreams in there."

The bomb squad said they were safe, but he wanted to check for himself. "If we don't try, the bad guy wins," Lyle said.

Lyle and FBI agent Chris Meltzer thought they could carry the chambers containing the sensitive materials out of the building, but when they realized they couldn't, they quickly worked to restore power to the building.

The backup generator wasn't working, but a crew was able to get the power back up and running before the temperature dropped in the chambers.

Dr Abdallah, the clinic doctor, told Lyle and Meltzer he needed the medical records, especially for the women seeking treatment in the coming days. The treatment window for embryo transfers and retrievals is tight.

Lyle and Meltzer entered the unsafe building again and emptied a truckload of documents. The clinic was able to continue treatment on Monday.

Throughout all of this, Lyle didn't realize he had unknowingly helped one of his own. Lyle told ABC News he received a text from another firefighter saying, "Thank you for saving my embryos." The firefighters said his wife was one of the patients with an appointment early in the week.

"It made me proud to be part of that. It was definitely a group effort, and [I was] super privileged to be leading such a great group of guys. When I heard about that, it was touching," Lyle said. "It was a devastating event, and I'm glad something positive came out of it."

The city's former mayor said she is also among the people helped by Lyle's brave efforts.

"I'm 18 weeks pregnant. I was just released from their care a few weeks ago, and I have my last remaining embryo on site at this clinic," Christy Holstege said.

Holestege lives just blocks away from the clinic and happened to be looking outside when the bomb went off.

"I saw the shockwaves hit my windows and rattle, and then I saw the plume of smoke rising, and I said, 'Oh my gosh, I think that's the hospital,'" Holestege said. "Going through IVF and a fertility journey -- me and my husband have been trying for this baby for two years; so much anxiety and fear already just in the day-to-day, every ultrasound is scary. So to have your clinic be a target of terrorism in an intentional act is just really hard to describe how that adds to the fear and anxiety."

Palm Springs Police Chief Andy Mills commended their work in a post on social media, writing, "God, I love this profession and am honored to walk in the presence of giants."

The American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic is the only IVF clinic around. The next closest is in Loma Linda, 50 miles away.