HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Back when our beaches were closed and families were on lockdown, Honolulu firefighters were on the front lines of the pandemic.

Casen Cluney was a recruit getting real-world training.

“We’re being up close and personal with them (COVID patients) because they are sick. They are having trouble breathing, they’re having chest pain, they’re dizzy and all the symptoms with COVID,” Cluney recalled.

Five years later, the city has compensated most essential workers, including police officers, government employees, and healthcare workers. Many received hazard pay totaling 10s of thousands of dollars from a city budget of $150 million.

Honolulu’s firefighters did not receive such compensation because their contracts at the time had no provision for it.

However, the ci

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