Sacramento home that exploded had long history of code violations, unpaid taxes
The man believed to have died in an explosion Thursday in Sacramento’s South Oak Park neighborhood had owned the house for nearly 30 years, a property long plagued by unresolved code violations and tax delinquency, public records show.
Karl Lysinger, 63, bought the house, at 3975 39th St., from Randall Lysinger in 1996, according to the county grant deed. Rocklin-based Alpine Holdings Inc. bought it for $151,000 during a February online auction for the tax-defaulted property, and the tax deed was formally transferred in March.
Over the years, the city has assessed over $50,000 in administrative penalties, related to issues the city’s code compliance division identified with the house, according to the most recent county tax bill. Last week, Sacramento City Council approved a motion to charge an additional $1,520 in fees on the property.
The city has been issuing serious code violations at the property since at least 2017, according to city records. Among the violations: a car cover larger than 120 square feet was built without a permit, and there was not adequate water service.
The city classified the house as a substandard vacant building for those and other issues. Details about the rest of the violations were not immediately available.
City inspectors had visited the property dozens of times since 2017, the city’s website shows, with the most recent visit reported being June 23. Documents from the Sacramento County Clerk-Recorder’s Office list a “termination of delinquent utility” for the same day. PG&E confirmed Thursday that natural gas service to the house had been previously capped, and was not active at the time of the blast.
County officials, meanwhile, had issued a notice in August 2022 indicating the home had become a tax-defaulted property. Public records indicate that property taxes had not been paid for years, leading to a sale by the county on Feb. 24.
Real estate records show Alpine filed a correction deed on April 21, valuing the home at $151,000. Sometime after Alpine took ownership, it started eviction proceedings against Lysinger.
The city of Sacramento had no role in the eviction proceedings, a city spokesperson said.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Thursday that it was in the process of executing an eviction on the property. The eviction notice was set for 6:01 a.m. Monday, Aug. 18. Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Amar Gandhi said deputies had not executed the eviction order and that no deputies were at the scene at the time of the explosion.
Thomas Christy, the CEO of Alpine Holdings Inc., did not immediately respond to a phone call and emails Thursday seeking comment.
The 905-square-foot, two-bedroom, 1-bath house at 3975 39th St. was built in 1938, property records show.
The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
The Bee’s Daniel Hunt contributed to this story.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 3:49 PM.
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story incorrectly suggested that the property’s code violations led to its designation as a county tax-defaulted property. The home was sold in February for unpaid property taxes, a process administered by the county.
