The Boston Fire Department held its annual Firefighters Award ceremony last night, bestowing honors on 11 firefighters for meritorious acts, officials said. The ceremony, held at Florian Hall in Dorchester, was the 131st such event, said Steve MacDonald, department spokesman. The 11 firefighters were commended for putting their personal safety at risk both on and off duty. Lieutenant Kevin M. Kelley, of Ladder 26, who was killed in the line of duty in January 2009, was awarded the Medal of Valor, which was given to his family.

A Back Bay woman fought off a man who attempted to sexually assault her as she was entering her apartment building early Thursday morning, Boston police said. The woman told police she was walking into her building’s vestibule when a man followed her into the building. The man approached her from behind as she neared her front door and spoke to her briefly, before he forced his way into her apartment and tried to sexually assault her, investigators said. The woman was able to fight off the attacker, who fled before police arrived. Police described the suspect as a black male with a slim build, between 22 and 27 years old, between 6 feet and 6-3, with a crew cut, and possibly wearing rimless glasses. Anyone with information is urged to call the Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit at 617-343-4400.

William Keating, the Norfolk district attorney, will kick off his campaign for Congress tomorrow with a tour through the 10th District. Keating, a Democrat who lives in Quincy, will begin the day in Bourne and conclude it in Quincy with a campaign rally that will feature people he has helped. “This day is all about the people I want to work for in the 10th Congressional District,’’ he said in a statement. “I want to continue listening to their concerns and talk about the changes we need in Washington.’’ Keating faces state Senator Robert O’Leary in the Democratic primary; former state treasurer Joe Malone and state Representative Jeffrey Perry are vying for the Republican nomination.

The Milton firefighter who was shot last December in Quincy and who was fired this month for insubordination and unbecoming conduct has appealed his dismissal to the Civil Service Commission. Town Administrator Kevin Mearn said the town received a letter that the appeal had been filed. Fire Chief John J. Grant fired Joseph Fasano, 30, after an investigation by an outside hearings officer into the shooting and information that surfaced about a previous domestic violence case involving Fasano. The report from the hearings officer concluded that Fasano had been insubordinate by refusing to answer some of the questions posed by the internal investigation, Mearn said. The report also found “conduct unbecoming’’ a firefighter. That involved Fasano’s arrest in 2007 in Weymouth on a charge of domestic violence against a former girlfriend, Mearn said.

Authorities said a 7-year-old Massachusetts boy who died at a hospital after spending the day at SeaWorld Orlando had a heart condition. The boy was taken to Dr. P. Phillips Hospital by Orange County Fire Rescue Thursday. Water park paramedics had also treated the child. Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jim Solomons said the child was from Taunton, Mass. (AP)