Diesel doesn’t even burn that well on its own. For it to do anything, you must’ve already had a pretty decent fire going without it.

I’m nowhere near as knowledgeable as you, but I do have an actual furnace for heating in the winter, so I have some experience. I can also vouch for structural stability being a hindrance: If I build it too well, there are usually logs or bricks that don’t catch fire until a long time later.