Responders/Original

The Responders were a volunteer-based disaster relief organization that operated in Appalachia. Formed shortly after the Great War by local first responder units, they were dedicated to helping local communities survive. To this end, they instituted a variety of programs that ranged from basic outdoor survival training to a specialized armed division called the Fire Breathers. Like the other regional factions, the Responders were wiped out by the Scorched Plague.

Post-War
In the aftermath of the Great War, first responders in Appalachia mobilized to help their fellow citizens. Eventually becoming a unified group known as the "Responders", they encompassed government and crisis relief duties in Appalachia, providing automated survival training to those who needed it. Their goals included helping people who made it through the nuclear holocaust or were born after the dust had settled, as surviving in the post-War world became paramount. They set up numerous locations across West Virginia in a bid to establish some semblance of law and order.

The West Virginian capital of Charleston became the heart of Appalachian reconstruction with the Responders at the forefront, the city itself showing great promise of rebuilding in the aftermath of the Great War. Among these refugees desperate for help were those from the Pleasant Valley Ski Resort, far away in the Savage Divide; left without help, they banded together under one David Thorpe. Thorpe rallied them into what would be the first of the region's raider warbands - and what would soon be a major threat to the Responders' mission.

The Christmas Flood
Weathering post-War hardships, the Responders held steady, despite the new threat of the raiders. The city of Charleston grew with its success and proved to be a safe haven against raider attacks. However, that was to change by 2082; a raiding party led by Rosalynn Jeffries, David Thorpe's lover, was routed handily by the Responders, despite some casualties. Most importantly, some raiders were captured alive - Rosalynn among them. With a powerful bargaining chip, the Responders hoped that they could negotiate some sort of ceasefire in exchange for their prisoners. Thorpe, on the other hand, was convinced that Rosalynn was dead. In a sheer display of cruelty, on Christmas morning, the Summersville Dam was rigged with mini nukes on Thorpe's order. The subsequent destruction of the dam resulted in catastrophic flooding that killed countless Responders, refugees, and other innocents. The survivors resettled at the Morgantown Airport.

Flatwoods
Despite the devastation, the Responders did not give up. Morgantown proved to be a jackpot, as after containing the trouble with the local gangs, they had a centrally-located base, distance between them and the nearest raider clans in the mountains, and contact with the Free States and the Appalachian Brotherhood of Steel. They even expanded into Flatwoods and began restarting some of the old infrastructures in the town to produce food and provide security.

Their access to food, medicine, and other essential supplies was the foundation of their relationship with the Free States and the Brotherhood, with caravans crossing through the Savage Divide regularly. Four years after the flood, in January 2086, they reached the apex of their power and influence as they fought against the super mutants in Huntersville alongside power-armored troops of Paladin Taggerdy. The victory seemed to signal the beginning of a new era for Appalachia, as the Responders and Brotherhood forged an alliance and their patrols even managed to suppress the mountain raiders (those not already taken care of by the elusive Order of Mysteries). Sanjay Kumar and Miguel Caldera were indispensable for maintaining the fleet and keeping it operational.

However, things would not go their way. The Enclave, hidden away from prying eyes, split apart in the civil war after President Thomas Eckhart decided to have his way and force the automated security systems to raise the DEFCON level by releasing scorchbeasts on Appalachia, after subjecting it to Chinese drones, the Huntersville mutants, and other monstrosities. The civil war that destroyed the faction set the scorchbeasts loose, which rapidly infested the Cranberry Bog and started spreading out into the adjacent areas. The appearance of the Scorched was a shock to all survivors who came into contact with them, as was the plague they spread. The Responders decided to fight back, organizing a special fighting force called the Fire Breathers using the experience of Melody Larkin and Hank Madigan, a Brotherhood deserter, to train and organize the elite fighters. They would face the horrors of the wasteland and protect the lands west of Appalachia from the Scorched, encountering strange hostile creatures along the way.

Scorched
However, the Responders failed to consider the big picture. Maria Chavez, their de facto leader, did not believe the threat was as severe as the Brotherhood made it out to be and disliked their militarism and repeated demands for supplies. What just a few years earlier promised to be a long-lasting alliance was unraveling fast, culminating on March 12, 2095, when the Brotherhood demanded information about Amy Kerry's project. At gunpoint. Although Chavez relented, the relations were soured permanently. The fall of the Brotherhood in August 2095 left the Responders alone on the board and it was a matter of time until the scorchbeasts finally took them out. The raiders, desperately fleeing the Savage Divide, swept through the Forest, taking out many of the Responder outposts, including Flatwoods.

The research project into a Scorched vaccine at AVR Medical Center was launched too late to provide a cure in time to protect the Fire Breathers. By September 2096, all of the pieces were in place to create it, but communications breakdowns due to constant Scorched attacks prevented Dr. Hudson from completing it and the Fire Breathers were forced to launch their operation to seal the Big Bend Tunnel and buy time for Appalachia without it. The operation took place in late October and failed. So did Hank Madigan on his attempt to establish the Scorched Detection System developed in conjunction with the Free States, captured and killed by the raiders. Finally, Morgantown Airport fell after a desperate defense against hordes of scorchbeasts and their minions on November 7, 2096. The Responders were wiped out.

Outside relations
The Brotherhood of Steel tried to recruit skilled Responders away to join the fledgling Appalachian chapter, with Hank Madigan eventually deserting the chapter for the Responders himself. The organization did not have the equipment or expertise that came with being a former military unit like the Brotherhood, as much of their equipment came from their origins as civilian emergency services, meaning members of that caliber were both needed and in short supply. Like the Brotherhood, the Responders fought against the encroaching Scorched, and also researched a means to develop a vaccine against the Scorched Plague, but their efforts ultimately fell short and they were wiped out sometime before Vault 76 opened. There is evidence of a Responders Radio station that operated prior to the group's destruction.

The Responders also collaborated to some extent with the Free States, such as through aiding the residents of Harpers Ferry before and after the Free States' arrival in the town. After they rebuilt Harpers Ferry, they also created a trade route to Charleston in the hopes of furthering their relations with the Responders.

Locations
For specific locations occupied by the Fire Breathers, see: Fire Breathers.

Interactions with the player character

 * The Responders can be discovered immediately after leaving Vault 76, with the mummified body of a volunteer in a Red Rocket jumpsuit found leaning against a lamp on the terrace outside.
 * Registering as a Responder Volunteer is an indirect part of the First Contact quest, where the player characters are told to find the Overseer in Flatwoods. They can use the still-active self-register kiosks to start their registration as a certified Responder, starting Thirst Things First.
 * The main quest then leads one to join the Fire Breathers, an elite unit of the Responders, before setting them loose on Appalachia.
 * Vendor Bot Responders are located primarily at train stations and their strongholds.
 * Train stations with Responder vendors: Grafton Station, Morgantown Station, Charleston Station, Welch Station, and Lewisburg Station.
 * Other vendor bots are found at the Flatwoods church, Morgantown Airport terminal, Camden Park and Charleston Fire Department.

Appearances
The Responders appear $$

Behind the scenes

 * The Responders were first revealed on the official Fallout Twitter page before the release of the game.
 * The Responders have a segment in the Fallout 76 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide faction profiles section.