Giving references for a job I was fired from?

I had a job interview that went well today and they asked for references from previous employers. I've worked at 3 places so far and I'm not giving references for the latest one because I'm still working there. I'll explain to them it could make things uncomfortable and if they're still adamant then I won't continue the application with them because that would be super weird for them.

Problem is, I was fired from my very 1st job. Long story short, my commute to work was 1.5 hours long (so 3 hours total round trip), I burned out, it impacted my work, and I got fired. The company had a very high turnover rate and other people were also fired, burnt out, or simple quit. I'm not making excuses because my work definitely did decline near the end, but not because I'm lazy or a bad employee. Before they let me go, the HR person assured they would tell future inquiring employers that it was a contract position which I completed. They have new HR people there, and I recently reached out to them because I needed work samples to showcase in my portfolio. The HR lady (who was hired after I left) was very professional with me and forwarded me the samples within the same day. We spoke through email and there was no negative vibes between us.

Here are my questions

Should I contact the HR dept of the company I was fired from and ask them what they'll say if I put them down as my reference?

Is that even appropriate in a professional environment?

Should I just be honest with the company I'm applying for? The CEO told me multiple times honesty was huge for him, and I feel the same way. And quite frankly, I hate keeping the fact that I was fired a secret like it's some dirty secret and I did something wrong. I'd love to get to a point where I can just take that company off my resume, not have to worry about it, or just tell people honestly what happened.

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