Palm Beach County Fire Rescue personnel are responding to an ever-increasing number of calls in communities after hydrogen from the charging of golf carts has set off detectors.

Golfers may not realize it but their golf carts could be ticking time bombs if they charge them inside a garage. That’s because golf-cart batteries, especially older ones, emit hydrogen, an odorless, colorless gas that is highly flammable.

"We are talking about a double whammy here," said Assistant Palm Beach County Fire Marshal David DeRita. "If it doesn’t suffocate you, it can kill you through a fire."

Palm Beach County Fire Rescue personnel are responding to an increasing number of calls in golf-course communities for help in determining why carbon monoxide (CO) detectors are being set off.

When they arrive, they find the issue is not carbon monoxide; it is hydrogen from the charging of golf carts that has set off the detectors, according to DeRita.