I have long felt the deliberate utilization of fire is something that has been sorely missing from the game.
Fire should be necessary for all advanced cooking and brewing, it should have its use as source of light and warmth, garbage disposal method and no dwarven communal hall is truly imaginable without a roaring fireplace.
Now, all that said, for obvious reasons having to do with development, programing, current behavior of materials etc. this hasn't been addressed so far which is quite understandable. But - with the new tweak on evil regions and undeath - I feel the introduction of fire in some rudimentary form has become necessary, if only for the purpose of zombie removal.
I propose a fireplace zone - or perhaps a building probably constructed out of stone blocks or bricks - which could be activated (kept alight with wood or charcoal by dwarves with the "firekeeper" labor turned on) or deactivated and in which "burn" designated items could be thrown. It should require an open aboveground space directly above it, so it would either have to be built outside or under a purposefully designed chimney (grate permissible). This would get rid of all the flammable garbage + bits that just won't stay dead, and would produce useful ash at the same time.
Further down the development line, other benefits could be added, such as giving dwarves happy thoughts, providing light and warmth etc. Pyres could serve as optional burial methods (some dwarves/soldiers fallen in combat/professions/religions demanding them, perhaps?) etc. etc. etc.
Your thoughts on this?