Brooklyn – Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) joined the family of Zlata Flam as she reunited with the heroic firefighter who saved her from a blaze in her home 38 years ago.  Firefighter Arthur McKee retired from FDNY in 1976 and now lives in Florida.  McKee is battling prostate cancer and met Flam and her family as part of a homecoming arranged by his son Robert.

“This reunion is a celebration of life,” said Felder.  “It is truly inspiring to be here and to realize that even from tragedy can come hope and inspiration.”

The reunion took place at the rebuilt home located at the same location as the 1970 fire.  Flam’s sister, Mindy Pollak, was 7 at the time and saved the lives of family members and neighbors by alerting them of the fire, but was unable to escape herself.  Flam, now 42, is a mother of 11 and a grandmother.  Her father, Rabbi Emanuel Pollak, is a community leader in Staten Island and offered words of inspiration to McKee in his battle against cancer.

The following article was printed in today’s NY Daily News: 

A long-retired Brooklyn firefighter who is battling cancer was reunited Monday with a woman whose life he saved from a raging inferno 38 years ago.

Inside the same Borough Park home rebuilt from the ashes of the blaze, Arthur McKee, 75, wept as he met with Zlata Flam, 42, now the mother of 11 kids and a grandchild.

“I was so happy to find out she was okay,” said McKee, who retired from Ladder Co. 148 and now resides in Florida. “I often wondered what happened to her.”

“You were like a red ball. I thought you were dead,” McKee, who’s battling prostate cancer, told Flam through tears.

“I didn’t even know how bad I was until now,” said Flam, explaining that her parents seldom discussed the tragedy, which claimed the life of her sister Mindy Pollak, 7. “I feel a lot more grateful. You did a very great thing.”

The joyous get-together took place at the same 46th St. house in Borough Park that went up in flames and was only recently rebuilt. It capped a farewell trip to McKee’s childhood neighborhood and old firehouse arranged by his son Robert McKee, 34.

An old Daily News article describes his dad’s heroics and recounts the early morning blaze on the first night of Chanukah. Cradling the limp and lifeless Zlata in his arms, McKee resuscitated the girl after pulling her from a smoke-filled bedroom.

Robert McKee saw the news clipping in his father’s scrapbook and tracked down the survivors’ relatives.

He surprised his firefighter dad, leading him into the once-burnt home, where a table overflowed with fruit and desserts and Flam’s doting kids and relatives heaped him with praise.

“He was the God-sent angel that saved my wife,” said Zlata’s husband, Rabbi Moshe Flam. “Indeed, we are one family together and that’s thanks to you, Mr. McKee. We’re indebted to you with the life of my children and all the generations to come.”

A clearly touched McKee, who retired in 1976, called the rescue “part of the job,” but then added: “It’s wonderful to see how it turned out. This is unbelievable.”

Zlata Flam said that when her father, Rabbi Emanuel Pollak, heard of the reunion, “He cried for 20 minutes. A lot of feelings came back.”

Rabbi Pollak, who now leads a sprawling Jewish community on Staten Island, was traveling yesterday and spoke with McKee by phone, encouraging the ailing, yet still robust, man to “keep the spirit up – it’s more important than medication.”

McKee assured him the meeting will help with his battle.

“You can’t believe the feelings I had today,” he said. “It changed me for a long time.”