If there is still live wood above the ground, don't cut the whole top down. Shooting your toe off because the nail is ingrown is equally unnecessary.

If there is a recurring problem with your fig tree freezing there you need a different situation for it or a different cultivar of fig tree. These are native to rocky places in a hot and dry climate, the more like such a place the planting site is the better your results are likely to be.

In many parts of the country (like upstate NY) people expect their figs to die back to the ground each year and come back strong enough to bear fruit each year. That said many of those places are actually hotter than we are in the summer and that helps ripen the fruit. But remember that figs produce 2 crops a year one on last year's wood (which will be lost if your tree is budding out) and one on the new wood. The second crop is generally larger but often does not ripen in the northwest. Some people believe that destroying the first crop brings a quicker second crop and my own experience is consistent with this. Yes you could probably find a harder fig (check One Green World's online catalog) but yours may also produce. jwww

Thanks for the help. I just wish I would get some fruit from this tree sometime soon! I went on a shopping spree and bought 4 new fig saplings.

Pretty much always important with fruit trees, selection of locally successful cultivars may be extra important with figs - there don't seem to be all that many that are reliable here.