Eleven teenaged girls at St. Joseph’s Village, the archdiocesan home for dependent children, were housed in temporary quarters this week following a fire in their cottage.

Sister Teresa, the village administrator, said the girls were allowed to go home for the weekend and then were temporarily housed in the other two cottages until theirs can be repaired.

The fire, which broke about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, was confined to a bedroom area of the cottage. Two of the 11 girls were away for the weekend and none of the nine remaining were injured.

Sister Teresa said she was standing in front of the administration building when she spotted spoke coming from the cottage, one of three self-contained units with its own kitchen and dining room.

The Village is located at 1969 Butner Road in unincorporated Fulton County. Units from fire departments in Atlanta, Cliftondale and Red Oak brought the blaze under control. Sister Teresa said the exact cause of the blaze or the amount of damage caused has not been determined, but the loss is fully insured.

Fulton Fire Marshal Ralph Emerson estimated the damage at $12,500 and said the fire probably started in the wiring.

Beneficiaries of the blaze were the dogs kept as pets and the small boys at the village. The dogs ate heartily on boxes of chocolate the girls were selling for St. Joseph High School after firemen carried the candy from the cottage. The boys had fun clammering across the fire trucks when they returned Sunday.