The trial of a former Schenectady code enforcement officer got underway Thursday morning. 

Kenneth Tyree faces charges for a March 2015 fire on Jay Street that killed four. In his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Michael DeMatteo told the court about the blaze.

He said tenants were awoken by each other and that the fire alarms inside 104 Jay Street didn't activate. DeMatteo blamed Tyree, who conducted a fire inspection of the building just the day before.

Tyree's attorney, Mark Gaylord, says that his client wasn't qualified to inspect the building. 

"His boss is going to tell you that he didn't know what courses he had taken if he had ever taken anything related to the uniformed fire code," Gaylord said.

"Because the alarm did not activate that morning, there was no alert, there was no warning, there was no coming for help," DeMatteo said.