Eric Frantz

No one wants to think about a fire starting in their home.

The cautious homeowner will install smoke detectors and place a fire extinguisher under the kitchen sink but there’s more to fire safety than those items.

Homeowners should have a detailed plan to not only prevent fires but also prepare for fires within the home. Fire safety begins by examining fire hazards throughout the home and planning escape routes from each and every room in the house.

Let’s evaluate a high-utilized room in any home – the laundry room.

Inspect the dryer to make sure there is no lint build-up inside the dryer or its exhaust duct and that the area behind the dryer is lint free.

Moving on to the garage, keep in mind that many items are stored in the garage but oily rags should not be kept close to heat sources. They should be kept in air-tight containers.

Inside the home, let’s spend some time in the kitchen. Homeowners should keep the stove clean of grease and food build-up. Towels, curtains, plastic utensils and potholders are stored away from the stove.

Snacks enjoyed by children, such as cookies, should not be stored above the store. A sneak attempt at a treat around a hot stove could be hazardous.

A great hazard, but appealing feature, is a fireplace. If you have a fireplace, make sure it has a screen, that the immediate area around it is free of clutter and flammable material, such as magazines.

While you’re fireproofing your fireplace, don’t neglect the chimney.

The chimney should be cleaned every year. It should also have fire-stop gypsum board at each floor penetration.

Exposed electric cords may be unsightly but you don’t want to place them under carpets or tape them against a wall. Check extension cords to make sure outlets aren’t overloaded.

TAMPA – The weather is beautiful inFlorida more often than not and you should really take advantage of it without leaving home.

Many homes inFloridacome with a patio. Sometimes the patio is an attractive outdoor living space and other unfortunate times the patio is unappealing addition to a home. You can have a patio that you adore and that’s also practical if you figure out how you want to use it.

If you’re going to use it to throw parties, dine with family or have it as your own exclusive get away, you need to decorate it accordingly.

If your patio is situated off the kitchen then that patio lends itself to gatherings with family or friends. If your patio is small and located off to the side of the house, then a getaway patio theme is what you want to create.

Take a stroll, with clear eyes, around the property and determine which area you have and what you want to do with it.

If you are starting from scratch and need to build your patio, you have the rare option of locating your patio exactly where you want it. Check out the landscaping and small details that can add up to a lot for your patio location. You want to make note of where the best view lies, as well as the proximity to other homes.

If you are building your patio, spend a large amount of time determining exactly how large it should be. Think about how many people are in your family, as well as how people you need to regularly entertain in the space.

You also need to take into account the size of your home so the patio can be proportioned to the scale of the home. The patio should be the same length as the house, as well as the same height.

Your house should also be a factor in the building materials. You want to select colors and styles that compliment your home.

Lastly, remember to plan for a fireplace or fire pit. A water feature can enhance the mood and distort traffic noise.

Neighborhoods across the Tampa area are flush with girls donned in blue, brown and green vests going door-to-door.

Yes, it’s Girl Scout cookie season.

Girl Scouts are fanning out to homes in their Tampa neighborhoods and nearby areas as well to sell a variety of cookies.

Cookies available this year are Dulce de Leche; Do-Si-Dos; Tagalongs; Thank U Berry Munch; Thin Mints; Trefoils; Samoas; and Savannah Smiles.

Girl Scouts of the USA is the premier leadership organization for girls. The $760 million Girl Scout Cookie Program is the largest girl-led business in the country and generates countless benefits for girls, their councils and communities nationwide.

The girls visiting home after home aren’t just selling cookies because that’s what Girl Scouts do this time of year. Each Girl Scout troop sets cookie goals to support their chosen activities for the year, to fund community service and leadership projects, to attend summer camp, to travel to destinations near and far and to provide events for girls in their community.

It’s hard for the girls, especially the blue vested Daisies in their first year of scouting, to knock on your door and risk rejection. They are doing it for the mentions listed above and also to learn life skills.

Yes, life skills such as goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.

These are skills that the girls will use in the years to come.

So try and set aside the $3.50 cookie price and support the Girl Scouts will they descend on your neighborhood.

The proceeds from each box sold, every penny, from the West Central Florida Council remains in the area where the cookies are sold. The price reflects the current cost of purchasing cookies from a licensed baker, the increased cost of ingredients and the realities of providing Girl Scout activities in an ever-changing economic environment.

If Girl Scouts don’t come knocking on your door, look for them selling with their troops outside of grocery stores, retail stores or anywhere else in the community.

Remember each girl and each troop have plans to use the cookie proceeds throughout the year so go ahead and order a box – or two. Let's be real 3 boxes a week x 52 weeks, looks like you need 156 boxes to make it till next season!

Maybe when you come home after a long day at the office you enjoy taking a stroll around the neighborhood either before or after dinner.

Perhaps your neighborhood is one that is lined with sidewalks, just right for bicycles, strollers, skateboards, as well as feet.

If your Tampa Florida neighborhoods is feet friendly, then count yourself lucky because the Walkable and Livable Communities (WALC) Institute deemed Tampa last in a ranking of 30 United States cities in 2007. Tampa is attempting to make strides in the area but it has a long way to go.

The WALC is an educational, non-profit organization working to create healthy, connected communities that support active living and that advance opportunities for all people through walkable streets, livable cities and better built environments. The Institute inspires, teaches, connects and supports communities in their efforts to improve health and well being.

THE WALC is serious about cities throughout the country being more walkable. In 2010 the Port Townsend, Wash., based institute donated more than $130,000 in services to communities and organizations throughout the country. In addition, the Institute donated grant-writing services to secure another $135,000 in funding for two municipalities, including $110,000 in a sidewalk grant from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board for Sheridan Street in Port Townsend.

A large part of what the Institute promotes is walkability – being able to travel from place to place without a car.

The number one city on the list was Washington, D.C. as the most walkable places per capita. Some of the examined data included in the study was the number of jobs the city has and retail or cultural institutions that bring in people who don’t live there.

Other high-ranking cities include Boston’s Beacon Hill, Miami’s Coconut Grove and the Houston area’s Sugar Land Town Square.

Many cities abandoned the idea of creating walkable cities after the automobile was invented. It seemed that city planners and real estate developers became fixated on profitable strip-mall formula and decided to stay with it.

Authors attribute Washington’s top spot to its large residence of 20- and 30-somethings, along with its public transportation star, the Metro. It was created 31 years ago and commerce areas sprung up around Metro stops. Stores and restaurants in close proximity, in addition to housing, makes residential living more enticing, as well as walkable.

There are things that Tampa officials can and may do in the future to improve its ranking. Until they do, take advantage of your own neighborhood by lacing up your shoes and going for a walk. If you'd like to find a good walkable neighborhood contact a Tampa Realtor

The kitchen is the heart of the home.

Sometimes the kitchen is a dream area in the home with adequate space for all the dishes and equipment required to make the home complete.

Sometimes the kitchen is small making the space prime real estate with only room for the most essential items.

If your kitchen fits the category of the later, then a few tips from Houseworks, by Cynthia Townley Ewer is as good as gold.

Ewer suggests dividing items in the kitchen into three categories – A, B and C.

Items in the “A” categories are located in the front of cabinet shelves and top drawers and the front area of lower cabinets and shelves. These are items that are used everyday.

Ewer broke it down like this: "It's easy: Choose the most accessible areas in your kitchen to store the items you use the most."

The next category is “B.” An example of something in this category would be a crockery slow cooker because it is used maybe once a week. These items are getting their share of usage but not on a daily basis. Examples of these items are graters, strainers, roasting pans and mixing bowls.

Assign the "B" categories to "B" level accommodations, such as lowest or highest shelves in the cabinets or areas in the backs of drawers. To reach the land of "B," you'll stand on tiptoe or stoop a bit, but storage is reasonably accessible.

The last category is “C.” These are the tools, seasonal items or single-use gadgets that barely earn their valuable kitchen real estate spot by being used once or twice a year. Ewer said these items, which left to multiply, could overtake even the largest kitchen, dangling cords and all.

In order to reduce this category, Ewer recommends giving each item a serious review as to if warrants valuable kitchen real estate space. Items that you “love” but seldom use, like that pasta or bread maker, could find a new home with a friend and let them worry about finding a place for it.

“C” items are stored in the dark reaches of bottom shelves in the cabinets. Small cabinets above the refrigerator or oven, reachable only with a step stool, are an ideal home for “C” items.

And there you have it according to Ewer, home kitchen storage easy as A, B, C!