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A Myrtle Beach woman was arrested after investigators said her backyard fire spread into a 2,000-acre wildfire, forcing evacuations in Carolina Forest.

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — A woman has been arrested and accused of being responsible for a wildfire that caused multiple evacuations near Myrtle Beach over the weekend.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission said that 40-year-old Alexandra Bialousow of Myrtle Beach was arrested on Thursday on two charges related to a yard debris burn that has since turned into a wildfire covering more than 2,000 acres in the Carolina Forest area.

Witnesses told investigators that Bialousow intentionally started the fire in a backyard fire pit that was close to the tree line in the Covington Lakes subdivision on March 1. The South Carolina Forestry Commission, citing warrants, said she "did not have an appropriate water source readily available" and didn't "have any garden tools on hand to control the fire."

The fire then spread to land owned by the Walker Woods Homeowners Association.

Investigators charged Bialousow with negligently allowing fire to spread to the lands or property of another and starting a fire in woodlands, grasslands, and other places that are unlawful unless certain precautions are taken.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission said that, if convicted for the first charge, Bialousow faces imprisonment for five to 30 days and a fine between $25 and $200. For the second charge, she could be fined up to $200 and imprisoned for up to 30 days.

The blaze, dubbed the Carolina Forest wildfire, was one of more than a hundred reported across South Carolina and one of, if not the largest, fire reported over the weekend. Departments across the state had sent equipment and personnel to assist Horry County Fire Rescue.

Not long after the fire, Gov. Henry McMaster issued a State of Emergency declaration to help facilitate the movement of state agencies and employees to help.

As of Thursday night, the Covington Drive fire was considered 55% contained.

Wildfire allegedly originated from backyard fire pit

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTV) - A woman has been arrested after she allegedly started a 2,000-acre fire in South Carolina.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission said 40-year-old Alexandra Bialousow started the fire in the Covington Lake neighborhood in the Myrtle Beach area.

Officials said Bialousow initially built the fire on March 1 in a backyard fire pit before it got out of control and reached the woods. From there, the flames burned more than 2,000 acres. An arrest warrant said that when she started the fire, she did not have “an appropriate water source readily available,” nor did she “have any garden tools on hand to control the fire.”

Several of Bialousow’s neighbors reportedly saw her build the fire.

Horry County jail records showed that she was arrested on Thursday, March 6, and was charged with negligently allowing fire to spread to lands of another, and a regulation of fire violation. She does not yet have a bail amount and was still in jail Friday morning.

Once the fire broke out -- as did others across South Carolina -- Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency on Sunday, March 2.

The 2,000-acre fire that Bialousow is allegedly responsible for has since been called either the Carolina Forest or Covington Drive wildfire.

Sister-station WMBF reported the blaze was more than 50% contained as of Friday morning. Horry County fire officials said the weather would not present any major challenges Friday as winds are expected to die down some, compared to the previous two days. The plan of attack was still firebreak reinforcement, to wet the ground and to deploy sprinklers as needed.

Firefighters said rain across the Carolinas on Wednesday helped knock down some of the flames. The next chance for rain in the Myrtle Beach area will come Sunday night into Monday.

WMBF reported that so far, nobody has been hurt nor lost their homes to the fire, despite some neighborhoods being evacuated.

According to the South Carolina Forest Commission’s fire map, the Covington Drive wildfire is the only blaze not yet contained.

With the state now nearly a week into firefighting efforts, the South Carolina National Guard has helped, in part by performing targeted water drops from high above the flames.

By the end of Tuesday, March 4, the state National Guard said it had completed 526 water drops, which dumped more than 602,000 gallons of water on the fire.

National Guard helicopters were used to perform the drops. Black Hawk and Chinooks have both participated in water deliveries.

“This mission has required teamwork, endurance, and unwavering commitment,” the National Guard wrote on social media.

Related: Blackhawk helicopters drop nearly 60,000 gallons of water on wildfires in South Carolina

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Wildfires have impacted more than 1,600 acres in the Myrtle Beach area, with flames burning within a few feet of homes in communities close to Carolina Forest.

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

A wildfire that covers 2,059 acres in the Myrtle Beach area has burned for more than seven days, affecting neighborhoods in the Carolina Forest area.

As of Thursday evening, Horry County officials reported that 55% of the fire has been contained, which means that a line has been placed around the fire edge, but it is not completely extinguished.

Continued dry conditions and wind has caused flare-ups and firefighters have been responding to hot spots, Horry County officials said. Friday’s weather calls for calmer winds and partly sunny, according to the National Weather Service.

However, the Covington Drive fire has calmed down significantly from the blaze threatening homes on Saturday.

But while officials are “guardingly optimistic” about the blaze, “we’re not out of the woods yet... but things are looking better,” Russell Hubright with the South Carolina Forestry Commission said Friday. “We don’t let our guard down. If this thing does something unexpected, were ready to jump on it.”

“Water is the name of the game (Friday),” Hubright said.

Much of Thursday’s progress in containment was made on the northeastern edge, where crews widened breaks and conducted mop-up operations within the established lines, the South Carolina Forestry Commission said.

Thermal drone video from Horry County Fire Rescue shows hot spots throughout the area.

The wildfire has little fire activity, has gone down to embers and is currently “smoldering,” Russell Hubright with the South Carolina Forestry Commission said Thursday.

Wednesday’s rain helped with the wildfires.

Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters with the South Carolina National Guard, as well as single-engine planes, continued to drop water on the fires Thursday.

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

This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 8:51 AM.

The Sun News

MYRTLE BEACH — After nearly a week of battling a wildfire in Carolina Forest, crews have finally contained just over half of the blaze, state and local officials said.

The S.C. Forestry Commission confirmed March 7 that 55 percent of the 2,059-acre wildfire had been contained as S.C. Air National Guard helicopters continued to douse hot spots with water drops and crews widened trenches around the northeastern edge of the fire.

"It's doing well," commission spokesman Russell Hubright said. "Each day it seems there's less heat in these [smoldering] pockets."

Despite the positive signs, he said crews will likely be monitoring the site for weeks. He compared it to a pile of burning coal on a grill.

"You might think that the thing's cooled off, and you come back out in a couple of hours and it's still warm," he said, adding that it can sometimes take several rounds of drenching with water to cool it. "That actually is a pretty good example of how folks should put out a campfire and how we try to put out this fire. ... There will be folks working on this fire until we get a good soaking rain."

At times, this week's blustery gusts have made fighting the fire more difficult because Horry County Fire Rescue couldn't use drones to survey the site.

"The wind's been giving us a little bit of trouble, but they've still been able to get the big aerial assets up," Horry County spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov said.

Throughout March 7, crews focused on responding to smoke reports and areas where they were concerned about possible flare-ups.

Firefighters have been closely monitoring areas near Tuckahoe Road, Covington Drive and Stoney Falls Boulevard — places that saw close calls last weekend.

Although officials evacuated parts of eight neighborhoods, no homes were destroyed and no injuries have been reported, officials said. The evacuations were lifted by the afternoon of March 2.

The fire has been burning since March 1 just outside the neighborhoods of the busy suburb between Myrtle Beach and Conway. It was first reported just after 2:30 p.m. that day when flames were seen in a backyard behind a home in the Tuckahoe Bay area.

Authorities said a homeowner did not take proper precautions to prevent her backyard debris burn from escaping and negligently allowed the blaze to spread to others' land.

On March 6, Alexandra Bialousow, a 40-year-old who lives in the Covington Lake subdivision, was arrested on two misdemeanor charges related to the fire, according to the forestry commission.

A countywide burning ban remains in effect. Apart from Bialousow's case, authorities have cited three people and arrested another for violating the ban, though none of those charges are connected to the Carolina Forest fire.

"With resources and energy levels currently stretched, the last thing HCFR needs to do is focus on another large-scale incident outside of the Carolina Forest wildfire," the county said in a news release.

Although the entire state was under a burning ban earlier this week, it has been lifted for every county except Horry and Georgetown.

The South Carolina Department of Agriculture’s latest round of restaurant inspections around the Grand Strand found pink mildew slime, live bugs and food past its discard date.

In general, SCDA gives restaurants scoring between 88 and 100 points A grades, restaurants scoring 78-87 points B grades and restaurants scoring 77 points or fewer C grades.

However, the department sometimes lowers grades for restaurants that have consecutive violations, are under enforcement action or are under pending enforcement actions, including imminent health hazards, permit suspensions or permit revocations.

Of the 209 restaurant inspections conducted in Horry and Georgetown County between Feb. 15 and Feb. 28, SCDA gave three C grades and eight B grades. However, all three C grades went to the same establishment, and only five of the establishments with B grades actually scored below 88 points. Here’s what inspectors found.

Conway Mart

1300 U.S. 501 Business, Conway, SC 29526

Score: 71

At a routine inspection of Conway Mart on Feb. 20, there was no certified food protection manager, eggs kept at room temperature and ready-to-eat foods like chicken nuggets weren’t marked with times for safe consumption, and raw meats were stored at insufficiently cool temperatures in the walk-in refrigerator.

Other violations included an open case of single-use containers stored near a ceiling leak, cases of chicken stored on the floor of the walk-in freezer and containers of foods like fried chicken filled with condensation “out of the flow of air to properly cool.” The inspector also noted gaps in a walk-in fridge that didn’t seal, red-tinged ice on the walk-in freezer floor and grease build-up on hood filters.

At subsequent inspections on Feb. 21 and 28, some of the violations were corrected. Conway Mart scored 82 points and 86 points, consecutively, though at the most recent inspection, the inspector saw a live roach on the counter near the milkshake machine. A follow-up inspection is scheduled for March 10.

Flavor Hills

1410 N. Ocean Blvd., Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

Score: 78

In response to a complaint, the SCDA conducted an inspection of Flavor Hills on Feb. 13. The inspection report notes that employees doing food prep tasks like handling raw chicken didn’t properly wash their hands, as multiple sinks were blocked or unavailable.

Other violations included foods available for use past their discard dates, foods like curry and sausage stored at insufficiently cold temperatures, improperly thawed meats and improperly cooled foods like grits.

The inspector also observed tongs stored on oven handles near the floor, missing ceiling tiles over food prep areas and soiled cleaning cloths not stored in sanitizer buckets between use. A follow-up inspection is scheduled for March 8.

Wild Wing Plantation

1000 Wild Wing Blvd., Conway, SC 29526

Score: 79

A routine inspection of Wild Wing Plantation Golf Course on Feb. 26 found several violations, including drain flies around the kitchen, foods like an open bag of bread crumbs stored on the floor and foods like chicken salad and raw beef patties stored at insufficiently cool temperatures.

The inspection report also details misidentified foods stored in unlabeled containers, icy build-up on food and boxes stored under the condensation line, build-up around the dish machine, residential bug spray stored in the kitchen and water damage behind the bar. A follow-up inspection is scheduled for March 8.

Tienda y Tortilleria El Coco

117 Rivertown Blvd., Conway, SC 29526

Score: 82

At a routine inspection of Tienda y Tortilleria El Coco on Feb. 18, the inspector observed tamales more than a week old, foods like soup and beef without dates marked for safe consumption, and cooked chicken and pork broth stored at insufficiently cold temperatures.

Other violations included vacuum-sealing cheeses without SCDA approval, improperly thawing raw pork, improperly cooling chicken and washing, but not sanitizing, dishes. According to the inspector’s comments, a follow-up inspection was to be conducted by Feb. 28, but no subsequent report has been made publicly available.

Zaxby’s

3858 Renee Dr, Myrtle Beach, SC 29579

Score: 82

In response to a complaint, on Feb. 24 the SCDA inspected the Carolina Forest Zaxby’s location. The inspector observed live bugs on a kitchen wall, water from a prep sink draining onto the floor into storage areas, chicken held at an insufficiently hot temperature and pans on a storage rack with “caked-on food.”

The inspection report also details grease and water “puddled” around drains, as well as food debris and build-up on shelves, walls, floors and equipment. However, at a follow-up inspection the next day, the restaurant managed a perfect score.

Sushi King Steak & Seafood

4036 River Oaks Dr #9, Myrtle Beach, SC 29579

Score: 85

A routine inspection of Sushi King Steak & Seafood in Carolina Forest on Feb. 25 found several violations, including pink mildew slime in the ice machine, raw fish stored without dates for safe consumption and frozen fish thawed in vacuum-sealed packaging, which is a risk for botulism.

The inspector also observed sushi held at insufficiently cold temperatures and containers without handles used to scoop foods like dry rice. A follow-up inspection is scheduled for March 7.

MS

The Sun News

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Maria Elena Scott writes about trending topics and what you need to know in the Grand Strand. She studied journalism at the University of Houston and covered Cleveland news before coming to the Palmetto State.