Officials warn against charging golf carts inside homes

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla — Emily Walters-Gore woke up to an alarm early Monday morning confused and concerned.

"I’m fully prepared to run through a fire to get my kids," Walters-Gore said. "My husband is grabbing a gun thinking it’s an intruder, which there was none."

The alarm was from her carbon monoxide detector and the St. Lucie County Fire District said the cause was the family of four's golf cart charging in the garage.

Gore said she nor her husband, a former firefighter, were surprised a golf cart charging inside could set off an alarm. But, the officials from different areas told WPTV charging golf carts inside creates potential dangers due to hydrogen gas.

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue said the batteries from golf carts battery emits hydrogen gas, which is extremely flammable. It said the gas can build-up and get into other parts of the home through vents and cracks under or above a door.

"The hydrogen leaks out and it basically tricks the [carbon monoxide] detector and it goes off," David Derita said in a safety video published in 2021. "People think their CO detector is malfunctioning. It is not. It is actually saving your life."

The department recommends charging golf carts outside and about 5 to 6 feet away from a structure. It said golf carts are charged inside at some golf courses, but those courses often have heavy-duty exhaust fans.

Chad Cianciulli, who is the Martin County Fire Rescue Chief, said the department gets a call related to a golf cart triggering a carbon monoxide alarm "almost weekly".

Regardless, Emily Walters-Gore said she sees so many people charging the carts in their garage.

"There should be a warning on the golf cart itself saying 'do not charge in a garage' because everybody charges it in a garage," she said.