Clark County has filed its claim against Stuff Recycling on behalf of itself and 15 fire departments which responded to last year’s fire.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in Clark Circuit Court against Stuff Recycling, Bluegrass Recycling, business owner Jerry Joiner and two banks with existing liens on the property.

In the filing, the county is asking a judge to prioritize its lien on the property ahead of the others to recover the expenses from the June 9, 2018, fire at the business on Lexington Road.

A joint city-county ordinance allows the county or city to recover expenses from an unauthorized release of hazardous substances against the business for the actual or possible release of hazardous materials and cleaning up the exposure.

Clark County Attorney William Elkins said the county has already filed a lien on the property for about $86,000, the county fire department’s expenses in fighting the fire. The new suit named 15 fire departments from neighboring communities and counties, which allowed the county to attempt to collect on their behalf.

Because they are based in other counties, they can not file their own liens, Elkins said.

Once the county can enforce the lien, Elkins said it could attempt to collect expenses for fighting the fire, which lasted for three days. If it can’t be collected, the county could foreclose on the property and force its sale, he said.

In all, approximately 35 different agencies responded to the Stuff property last year. Fire officials said the fire started in a pile of material and spread beyond the employees’ control. The pile contained a mixture of recyclable material.

The City of Winchester filed a suit last week against Stuff Recycling seeking nearly $54,000 for its expenses. Winchester Fire-EMS was the second department to respond to the fire.

Stuff Recycling also filed a suit last week challenging its responsibility in the cost of fighting the fire on its property, claiming the county did not have enough resources available near the site to fight a fire properly.

The fire departments named in the suit were Hutchinson Volunteer Fire Department, Little Rock VFD and North Middletown, Clay City, Stanton, Bourbon County, Nicholas County, Estill, Hargett, Scott County, Montgomery County, Ewing, Clintonville, Paris and Red Lick fire departments. Elkins said several departments, including Lexington Fire Department, chose not join the case.