2 Deaths, 8 Injuries Mark Start of New Year in O.C. : Holiday roundup: In addition to gunfire and a traffic fatality, a home in Orange suffered $40,000 in damages from a fire started by a skyrocket.

New Year’s celebrations in Orange County were blackened by flames and bloodied by gunfire and the area’s first traffic fatality of 1991.

In all, two men were killed and eight others wounded, including a 10-year-old boy, in incidents throughout the county early Tuesday. And a fire in the city of Orange caused $40,000 in damages to a residence when a skyrocket, launched to welcome the new year, lodged in a wood-shingle roof.

A party in Placentia spilled into the street shortly after the new year began and touched off a series of stabbings and shootings. Within 2 1/2 hours, Jack Cisneros, 33, had been shot to death and seven other people were wounded.

In Santa Ana, police received 162 calls between 11 p.m. Monday and 2 a.m. Tuesday to report gunshots, despite a public campaign that urged Californians to holster the tradition of discharging weapons into the air in celebration.

Police said at least two bullets struck 10-year-old Sergio Granados of Costa Mesa, who was attending a family gathering in Santa Ana.

The youngster’s cousin, 17-year-old Carmen Granados, said the boy was playing in the back yard of her home in the 1700 block of West Pine Street when the family began exchanging embraces at midnight. At that moment, she said, the sound of gunfire was everywhere.

“He screamed,” Granados said, describing her young cousin’s reaction. “We wondered what was wrong with him, and we saw a hole in his hand. He had blood running down his clothes.”

Lt. Earl Porter said the boy also suffered a bullet wound in his right thigh. Porter said he was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange where he was listed in stable condition.

There are no suspects in the case, Porter said, adding that officers were responding to reports of gunfire most of the night. Police said there was no indication that weapons were fired from the family’s home.

Carmen Granados said the shooting started in her neighborhood Monday afternoon and continued through the night.

“You could hear it all over the place,” Granados said.

In Laguna Hills, the county’s first traffic fatality was recorded about 3:20 a.m. Tuesday when a 23-year-old Whittier man’s 1989 Toyota left the road.

California Highway Patrol officers said Jeffery Salas was traveling east on La Paz Road, just past Cabot Road, when he apparently made a turn south, left the roadway and struck a concrete and metal signal box.

Officers said Salas was traveling alone and was not wearing a seat belt. They said the cause of the accident was under investigation.

In other areas of the county, authorities said New Year’s Eve was relatively quiet on city streets and drunk-driving arrests were reported to be down, except in Costa Mesa where a task force arrested 50 people on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Gary Webster said the task force, composed of nine two-officer teams, recorded the arrests on city streets between 6:30 p.m. Monday and 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Webster said the task force is activated on New Year’s Eve as part of the city’s effort to curb drunk driving. This year’s total of arrests surpassed last year’s total by four.

He said all suspects were arrested after being given field sobriety tests.

In Orange, firefighters were called to the 2600 block of East Hoover Avenue at 1:06 a.m. for smoke coming from a garage roof.

Fire officials said the blaze apparently started when a skyrocket, shot during a neighborhood celebration, landed on the roof.

Officials said the blaze caused $10,000 in damage to the roof and $30,000 in damages to a four-wheel-drive vehicle and a jet ski stored inside the garage.

More than 30 firefighters were called to battle the blaze, which took 15 minutes to bring under control.

No injuries were reported and authorities had made no arrests in the case Tuesday.