Winter is here, and so can firewood

Kiln-dried firewood, the most expensive and aromatic, and cleanest burning firewood offered by local company Haulstr, on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, on the northwest side of Indianapolis during a day of delivering firewood.

Dustin Brown (left), gets instructions from Zionsville homeowner Christian Belloso on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. Belloso, in his second year of living here, moved to Indiana from the Los Angeles area and has discovered firewood works best for him in the decidedly colder Midwest. Belloso said that Hoosiers are friendly and he’s loved getting to know his neighbors, something that wasn’t the case in his old neighborhood in Santa Clarita, Calif.

Firewood from a variety of local hardwood trees, on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, as delivered by Haulstr, a local company that does a variety of home services, including firewood delivery in the colder months.

Bulldogs mill around a firewood stack next to their fence on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, on the northwest side of Indianapolis during a day of delivering firewood.

Dustin Brown of Haulstr tries to reach a customer for delivery instructions on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, on the northwest side of Indianapolis during a day of delivering firewood.

Stacked firewood, air-dried, on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, on the northwest side of Indianapolis during a day of delivering firewood.

Three bulldogs mill around a firewood stack next to their fence on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, on the northwest side of Indianapolis during a day of delivering firewood.

Dustin Brown points to a quickie map he drew of his deliveries for the day, on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. A and B show deliveries in Zionsville and the northwest tip of Indianapolis, while C shows a delivery in the southeastern section of the city.

Dustin Brown navigates the entrance to North Michigan Road on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, on the northwest side of Indianapolis during a day of delivering firewood. He and an assistant are heading out to deliver four ricks of wood.

Dustin Brown (left) and Henry Lopez deliver three ricks of kiln-dried wood on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, in Zionsville. A rick is typically four by eight feet of stacked wood, and three ricks comprise a cord, a term usually more familiar on the West Coast.

Dustin Brown rings the doorbell of a customer on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, on the northwest side of Indianapolis during a day of delivering firewood. After going to Indiana University for marketing and working as a local beer brewer, Brown recently started a second stint with Haulstr, and delivers firewood in the winter months and does custom patio installations in the warmer ones.

Henry Lopez hands down a wheelbarrow to Dustin Brown on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, on the northwest side of Indianapolis during a day of delivering firewood.

Dustin Brown carefully stacks firewood for a customer on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, for a Zionsville customer who ordered three ricks, a stack roughly four foot high and 24 feet long, equivalent to a cord.

Henry Lopez gives a little extra muscle as he pushes a wheelbarrow over a berm on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, as he delivers firewood with Dustin Brown on the northwest side of Indianapolis.