Overview
The Firefighter Runner is a variant of the Runner found most often in urban areas such as Ocean Avenue and Venice Beach. They are former Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters who turned during the outbreak. Once the brave members of LA’s beloved fire service, they are now cold-blooded undead.
They wear pieces of firefighter turnout gear, a yellow coat and trousers with bright yellow high-visibility bands and black boots, with some also wearing firefighter helmets. The gear is more than cosmetic: the suit makes Firefighter Runners immune to fire, shock, and caustic damage, rendering most elemental weapon mods and environmental hazards completely ineffective against them. A player relying heavily on fire- or shock-modded weapons will find them frustratingly difficult to put down until they adapt.
In combat they behave like standard Runners, very fast and aggressive, capable of quickly rushing players, dodging heavy attacks, and pushing them back to interrupt attacks. Like all Runners, they are attracted to loud noises such as gunfire, explosions, and alarms.
Their immunity is formidable, but their weaknesses are exploitable. Firefighter Runners are weak to sharp weapons and bleed damage, their legs are vulnerable to maiming and will reduce them to Crawlers if severed, and they can be killed effectively with projectiles and explosives. The Drop Kick ability also works well against them, and Bait Bombs can distract them briefly
Where to Find Them
Firefighter Runners can be found throughout Ocean Avenue. The Metro is also a reliable location. They tend to appear alongside Firefighter Walkers in fire-themed areas and military zones.
Notable Firefighter Runner
The Hero – spawns during the Missing: Steve quest. Can’t be missed if you’re doing this quest. You do have to lure it to Steve and kill it there for quest credit. Sometimes they bug out when spawning, just reload if you are having trouble getting them to appear during the quest.
Zompedia
| Name | Criteria | Description |
|---|---|---|
| First Blood | Kill 1 Firefighter Runner | Firefighter Runners are fast, aggressive, and IMMUNE to FIRE, SHOCK, and CAUSTIC damage. |
| Under The Skin | Kill 10 Firefighter Runners | The relatively fresh bodies of Firefighter Runners are WEAK to SHARP weapons, and to BLEED damage. |
| Sliced To The Bone | Kill 25 Firefighter Runners | Their legs are amped up for speed, but weak to MAIMING. Attack their legs to drop ’em, then finish them off! |
| Deep In The Guts | Kill 50 Firefighter Runners | Firefighters’ broad IMMUNITY to many modded weapons can cause problems if you don’t have a varied Slayer loadout. |
Zombie Challenges
| Name | Tier | Description | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| A New P.B. | 1 | Kill 50 Runners | AGILITY+ (+3%) |
| 2 | Kill 100 Runners | AGILITY++ | |
| 3 | Kill 1000 Runners | AGILITY+++ | |
| Backdraft | 1 | Kill 10 Firefighter zombies | RESILIENCE+ (+3%) |
| 2 | Kill 30 Firefighter zombies | RESILIENCE++ | |
| 3 | Kill 50 Firefighter zombies | RESILIENCE+++ |