Florian was born in Cetium (now Austria) around 250 A.D. He was a Captain in the Roman army and was recognized as a brave soldier and tenacious fighter.

The Roman Empire recognized the dangers associated with fire and was the first to form a fire department made up of slaves captured by the Roman army. One downfall to using slaves to battle fires was that they retained no real desire to risk their own lives saving the property and lives of their captors. Given Romes desperate need for reliable fire protection, they called upon Captain Florian to organize and train an elite group of soldiers whose lone duty was to fight fires. These individuals were highly trained and very successful at protecting Rome from losses due to fire.

Rome was very impressed by the efforts and success that Captain Florian had achieved with his elite group of soldiers. So much so, that they promoted him to the position of General within the Roman army. Being common practice for a General to be provided an area of conquered land in which to rule and collect taxes, General Florian was provided an area that included most of Poland.

Some time later, Roman Emperor Diocletian was shocked to learn that General Florian was not enforcing Rome’s law forbidding Christianity. Acting in disbelief, Emperor Diocletian dispatched a unit of soldiers to investigate the claims against General Florian. These soldiers warned and threatened General Florian that he was required to embrace the faith of Rome and persecute all Christians in the area. Florian not only refused to comply with the orders of the Emperor, he confessed that he had embraced the faith of Christianity and had [himself] become a Christian. Furious with this response, Emperor Diocletian sentenced Florian to death by fire.

As soldiers from the Roman army secured Florian to a post and placed fuels around him in preparation for burning him at the stake, villagers in the area began to gather around to witness the execution. Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to build the fire even higher so that his sole would rise up to heaven in the smoke from the blaze. Apprehensive of his words, the soldiers removed Florian from the stake and dispensed with the idea of burning him alive. Instead, he was flogged and flayed before being drowned in the River Enns with a millstone tied around his neck. His body was recovered by a pious woman and provided an honourable burial.

Following the death of Florian, there were several accounts of people who were trapped by fire and reported that they had invoked Florian’s name and were delivered to safety by his spirit. These occurrences were reported and documented on several different occasions. Florian was confirmed as a saint by Pope Lucius III in 1138 for his commitment to Christianity. Since then, St. Florian has generally been regarded as the patron saint of the fire service.