CAROLINA FOREST, S.C. (WBTW) — An attorney representing the woman charged with sparking the March 1 Carolina Forest wildfire says his client is being scapegoated by Horry County and The South Carolina Forestry Commission. He says he has proof investigators are lying.
Alexandra Bialousow, 40, is charged with negligently allowing fire to spread to lands of another and a regulation of fire violation. She’s out on a $15,000 bond after being arrested on March 6.
In a video posted to TikTok, Bialousow’s lawyer, Jonny McCoy, made several accusations, questioning the urgency of firefighters in the first moments responding to Bialousow’s home. He also says authorities lied about evidence to justify charging her.
“They lied about her not having gardening tools. They lied about her not having a water hose, and they lied about her not having any gardening tools,” McCoy said. “That’s why I get hired .. is when you start to see they are scapegoating somebody.”
In the TikTok clip, McCoy shares photos he says shows tools near Bialousow’s fire pit. He claims the tools were next to the fire pit on March 1 before and during the small fire that authorities say sparked the massive Carolina Forest Fire. As NewsNation affiliate WBTW has reported, the state Forestry Commission said she didn’t.
When WBTW asked McCoy when the fire pit photos were taken, he said he requested them from Bialousow after she became his client. WBTW noted that a wide angle photo of the fire pit shows trees behind it that don’t appear to be burned.
McCoy also said Biaousow’s stone fire pit qualified as an exception to a statewide burn ban, because it’s made of stone and built into the hard.
Another clip on McCoy’s TikTok video, shows footage of who appears to be Alexandra Bialousow using a garden hose to spray down trees that had caught fire in what appears to be her backyard.
The video, McCoy said, was taken by somebody at her house on March 1. He says it disproves the allegation that there wasn’t an available water source near her fire pit.
WBTW has reached out to both Horry County and state forestry officials for a response to McCoy’s claims.
Local officials deferred to the South Carolina Forestry Commission, which said it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.
McCoy told WBTW on Monday that Bialousow is the victim of a yearslong pattern of corruption in Horry County.
“I have been trying cases for 15 years in Horry County, South Carolina, Columbia and all around the state and one thing that everybody knows without fail is that authorities in this area lie and exaggerate in an effort to make somebody look more guilty, or not guilty at all,” he said. “And if they’re investigated for it, nothing happens.”
McCoy said Bialousow is considering a defamation lawsuit, once her current legal battle is resolved. He says insinuations by the forestry commission and local media outlets that Bialousow violated a statewide burn ban are false and dangerous. He says the single mom of two has received threats and has been placed on administrative leave from her job.
“She’s gotten threats. There are still comments saying she’s an idiot. That she deserves to be held liable and accountable for all 2,000 acres. It is going to take everybody realizing that there is video evidence out there, completely to the contrary,” McCoy said. “The authorities are going to have to step up and say, ‘you know what, we made a mistake.’ They’ll never do that though, before she would be able to made even partly whole again.”
McCoy said the video he posted on TikTok of the firepit was shot after Bialousow became his client. Trees behind the pit show no signs of being burned.