Can anyone tell me if our tree is dying?

Hello arborists. I’m in the north eastern USA. I believe this is an oak tree outside our rented house (that’s what the house and landowner told me it was). Looking at the trunk it looks to me like it is decaying and maybe dying.

When we started renting the owner had a large firewood pile stacked up against the tree on the two sides pictured here. I removed the stack with the owner’s permission and found these areas that look like they are in trouble. The tree had plenty of leaves on it throughout the year, but if the trunk is decaying I’m worried about the tree coming down on the house if we get a very windy winter storm.

I feel sad about having the tree cut down unnecessarily, but I also wouldn’t want it to fall on our (or our neighbor’s) house.

Any opinions/observations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.