It is not a coincidence that the residents of Užpaliai have chosen Saint Florian to be their patron because the township was destroyed by fires for many times. Therefore the residents decided to erect a monument for Saint Florian – the patron saint of fire-fighters – by the church. Some people say that the monument was erected at the end of the 19th cent., while others say that it was erected after the fire in 1912. In actual fact, according to the material kept in the archive of Užpaliai Church, the wooden monument was replaced with a concrete one in 1933 under the guidance of the Dean Rev. A. Paurys. On one side of it there was Christ carrying the Cross, and on the other side – the figure of Saint Florian – protector from fires. In summer 1944, the receding German Army strafed the township and, in the square near to it, the aerial bomb exploded but the monument was not destroyed. In summer 1963, the monument was taken down. Only the spirit of renaissance evoked the idea of restoration of this monument and in the middle of the township the monument of Saint Florian was erected again. It was reproduced according to the old photographs and narrations of the residents of Užpaliai. By the initiative of the eldership the commemoration of Saint Florian as well as the fire-fighters’ festival is organized here every spring.
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