I loved this post and read every detail. Something I am very interested and experienced in. A neighbor in PA back in the 80's had one of those outdoor stoves. Burned coal and wood. I was a teenager when my father added an airtight wood stove to the oil furnace unit we had. The stove was in my basement bedroom. So privacy was gone. But my room was the warmest one. And the pathway for the 🪵 wood rack. So always a mess to clean up.
We still burn wood here in North FLA this time of the year. We only have a fireplace and campsite.
But here is me this morning at 9 am playing lumberjack games. Cleaning up the carnage from the logging crew and hurricane.
Oh cool, wow what a life.... we had an oil furnace at my foremans house. Thing leaked into the ground and contaminated the area. Luckily Virginia paid to clean it all up and I only had to pay a few hundred and they paid the rest. I hear most people had those back in the day, but glad now I have a wood burning system so I do not need to worry about diesel.
Hah best of luck cleaning up after the hurricane. I am sure we will have many more downed trees to clear in our future too.