Even when the heat is working in the winter, it's not unusual that they need the woodburning stove to keep warm, though it's not often actual wood goes into it. With the power out, fire is necessary to survival.
Mark still has some of Benny's old screenplays lying around, the ones they wrote together in college or early days in the city, certain that this one would be the one that would be their big break.
Mark, expressionless, lights them and drops them into the trashcan, watching as the papers crinkle and blacken and burn. It doesn't rid him of the memories.