The case of an elderly Uitenhage man, who sued the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality for more than one million rands in damages, will continue in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Wednesday.
This follows a fire in October 2011 in which his house burnt to the ground.
The 73-year-old Manila Kara reported a fire in an open piece of land next to his property, in Tayler Street, and called the Uitenhage Fire Department for assistance.
The department attempted to bring the fire under control, but left while it was still smouldering. Kara was told to contact them if it should flare up.
Kara made a second call to the fire department who responded again, only to discover that the water tank of the fire engine was empty.
Firefighters then tried to make use of a nearby fire hydrant, but was unable to use it due to the fact that it was not maintained and therefore not in working order.
By this time Kara's house was engulfed in flames and eventually completely destroyed.
The Metro has since admitted negligence.
Kara's lawyer Wilma Espag van der Bank and her team are expected to go into the second phase of this matter, in which he is claiming damages of more than one million rand.
