The thing is, anyone who doesn't already have firewood likely also has no way of obtaining fresh firewood. Most people in the suburbs don't even have trees on their property and even if you do, most people don't have tools or skills to cut it down. As someone that's had to fell a 40 foot tree in single digits after an ice storm, I can tell you its fucking miserable and cutting it up into firewood afterward would be even worse.
People who aren't already prepared for things like this (i.e., suburb or urban types) should just leave home and proceed to a warming center or relief area if they are facing cold temps without a source of heat. Trying to improvise a solution in the middle of a cold snap with things you're not familiar with is a recipe for disaster.
You can burn fresh wood as long as you get the fire going hot enough first, it'll give off a lot of smoke though. Source: I've done it.
The thing is, anyone who doesn't already have firewood likely also has no way of obtaining fresh firewood. Most people in the suburbs don't even have trees on their property and even if you do, most people don't have tools or skills to cut it down. As someone that's had to fell a 40 foot tree in single digits after an ice storm, I can tell you its fucking miserable and cutting it up into firewood afterward would be even worse.
People who aren't already prepared for things like this (i.e., suburb or urban types) should just leave home and proceed to a warming center or relief area if they are facing cold temps without a source of heat. Trying to improvise a solution in the middle of a cold snap with things you're not familiar with is a recipe for disaster.