Carolina Forest woman arrested for causing 2K+ acre wildfire in Myrtle Beach area

A Carolina Forest woman has been arrested for burning yard debris that is alleged to have ignited the now more than 2,000-acre Covington Drive wildfire in the Myrtle Beach area.

Alexandra Anna Bialousow, 40, was charged by the South Carolina Forestry Commission with negligently allowing fire to spread to lands and violation of regulation of fires on certain lands. Public records show that Bialousow lives on Covington Drive.

Bialousow is accused of not taking the proper precautions to prevent her debris burn from escaping, according to a release from the South Carolina Forestry Commission.

Bialousow appeared in magistrate court Friday afternoon where a judge set her bond at $15,000 – $7,500 for each charge.

Bialousow, who has no criminal history, appeared without an attorney. She told the judge that she has lived in Horry County for about four years and works in therapy at hospitals, schools and assisted living centers.

Witnesses reported seeing Bialousow intentionally start a fire in a backyard fire pit that was close to a tree line within Covington Lakes Subdivision on March 1.

According to the arrest warrant, the suspect “did not have an appropriate water source readily available,” nor did she “have any garden tools on hand to control the fire, thus allowing the fire to spread to land owned by Walker Woods HOA. This incident was witnessed by several neighbors,” the release said.

She was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center on Thursday.

The Covington Drive wildfire began Saturday afternoon, spreading quickly and moving close to homes and backyards and resulted in evacuations. However, no houses or structures have been destroyed from the fires and there have been no injuries.

Horry County officials said they received the first report of the fire about 2:30 p.m., which was reported near a backyard.

Hory County has had a burn ban for more than a week.

More than half of the 2,059-acre Carolina Forest wildfire has been contained, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission.