A golf cart parked in a Hobe Sound garage caught fire Saturday night, sending flames into the porch and side of a home before Martin County Fire Rescue crews knocked it down. One patient reported minor injuries and smoke inhalation, and the family cat was found safe inside the house once the flames were out.
The fire broke out just after 7 p.m. Saturday near the 8100 block of Southeast Eagle Avenue, according to Martin County Fire Rescue, as reported by WPBF. Firefighters managed to confine the blaze to the garage, porch and side of the home, keeping it from spreading further into the residence. Southeast Eagle Avenue sits just off Southeast Dixie Highway, a stretch of roadway also designated the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway.
One patient at the scene refused transport to a hospital despite reporting minor injuries and smoke inhalation, per the same WPBF account. Residents were able to return to their home after crews cleared the scene, and their cat, initially unaccounted for during the chaos, turned up safe inside once firefighters checked the house.
State Fire Marshal to Determine Cause
The State Fire Marshal has been notified about the fire and will investigate its cause, WPBF reported. It remains unclear whether the golf cart was actively charging when the fire started or what type of battery powered it. Martin County Fire Rescue credited the crews who handled the call in a Facebook post, writing, “Nice stop by the following C-shift crews: Ladder 33, Engine 30 & 32, Tender 44, EMS 3, Battalion 3, Rescue 301, 302 & 331.”
Those C-shift units — Ladder 33, Engine 30, Engine 32, Tender 44, EMS 3, Battalion 3, and Rescues 301, 302 and 331 — were among the crews Martin County Fire Rescue credited with handling the call.
A Familiar Hazard in Martin County Garages
Saturday's fire is not the first time a golf cart has sparked a residential blaze in the area. Martin County Fire Rescue battled a garage fire in nearby Palm City in December 2024 that was caused by a plugged-in golf cart and damaged a three-car garage.
Golf-cart battery fires can pose hazards in garages. Newer lithium-ion batteries carry a different risk: firefighters may need specialized suppression blankets because traditional firefighting techniques such as water may not work, per the Villages-News.
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue advises residents to charge golf carts outdoors or at least five feet from home structures, and to avoid overnight or unmonitored charging in closed garages since smart chargers can fail to shut off automatically. The department also recommends keeping garage doors open if outdoor charging isn't an option.
Golf Cart Emergencies Not Limited to Fires
Golf cart calls have kept Martin County crews busy beyond structure fires. In February, a child fell from a moving golf cart on Gomez Road in Hobe Sound and needed helicopter evacuation for trauma evaluation, an incident later referenced in coverage of a separate golf cart rollover in a Brooksville senior community. Nationally, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recorded about 13,000 emergency-room visits tied to golf carts each year, a toll the agency attributes largely to the vehicles' lack of seat belts, airbags and enclosed doors.
The agency also recalled 90,800 E-Z-GO Personal Transportation Vehicles in October 2025. It's not known whether the cart involved in Saturday's Hobe Sound fire was affected by that recall or any other product defect. Under Florida law, minors must hold a valid driver's license or learner's permit to operate a golf cart on public roads, and adult operators must carry government photo identification while driving one.
As investigators look into what sparked the Hobe Sound fire, the family whose home was damaged is left waiting for answers — grateful, at least, that their cat made it out unharmed.
