Jim Dickson's beloved Jack Russell-mix Jess died in the fire yesterday and a lifetime's worth of memories was destroyed.
His son Dave Dickson, of Portobello, picked his father up from Balclutha Hospital at 11am ,after Mr Dickson sen was treated for smoke inhalation suffered in the 7am blaze.
''He's going strong, or he's putting his chin up, anyway,'' Mr Dickson said.
''Understandably a little bit of a difficult time with his best mate passing.''
Mr Dickson's father is deaf and usually communicates with his family through email - he lost ''all that'' too.
Mr Dickson said his father was recovering in Portobello from his ordeal yesterday afternoon.
''He's in shock at the moment,'' Mr Dickson said.
''But he's got family around him that he hasn't seen in a long time, he's taking it all in, so that's a silver lining to the cloud, I suppose.''
His father had insurance.
Clinton Volunteer Fire Brigade chief fire officer Bill Harris said the fire appeared to have started from the gas heater.
''The whole house was involved when we arrived, but the gas heater was close to the door,'' Mr Harris said.
''He said he'd tried to throw it out but he couldn't get it out the door. So he vacated the place himself.''
Mr Dickson's gas heater had been removed from the premises as it was the subject of the fire investigation, he said. Fire investigator Paul Glanville, of Queenstown, said a cause could not be determined until they had spoken to Mr Dickson.
The Clinton fire brigade was backed up by Waiwera South and Clutha Valley crews, and up to 20 firefighters fought the fire for an hour, Mr Harris said.
Flames were ''coming out the windows'' when crews arrived, Mr Harris said.
''There was nothing that wasn't burning in it, basically.''
A small out-building in the back was saved but that was it, he said.
