A lawsuit involving more than 100 plaintiffs seeking damages because of the April 2023 plastics fire in Richmond will be heard in Henry County.
The plaintiffs sued Cornerstone Trading Group, My-Way Trading, Seth Smith and the city of Richmond, claiming the April 11, 2023, fire on North West F Street caused economic damages, plus physical, mental and emotional problems.
Cornerstone filed cross-claims that include the city and Wayne County. Because Wayne County is now involved, Cornerstone requested a change of venue. Circuit Court Judge April Drake granted the motion and supplied Randolph, Henry, Fayette and Union counties as options.
A Jan. 27 court filing indicates the parties could not agree on a county for jurisdiction, which resulted in each party striking one county. Cornerstone struck Fayette County, the plaintiffs struck Union County and the other defendants struck Randolph County, leaving Henry County as the venue.
Another lawsuit with plaintiffs Tushawn Craig and Marquetta Stokes that seeks similar compensation was transferred to the U.S. District Court for Southern Indiana and has been certified a class action suit. The jury trial for that suit is scheduled for Aug. 10 at the U.S. Courthouse in Indianapolis.
The lawsuits resulted from stored plastics owned by Cornerstone burning at 308 N.W. F St., 310 N.W. F St. and 358 N.W. F St., sending black toxic smoke billowing into the air and blowing eastward into Ohio. An evacuation order was issued within a half-mile of the fire that lasted until April 16, 2023.
Richmond had filed unsafe building orders against the properties nearly four years prior to the fire, and when cleanup did not progress, purchased the 310 and 358 properties through tax routes in an attempt to spur compliance. The lawsuits allege negligence in failing to clean up the properties led to the fire.
A version of this article appeared in the February 4 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.