It took firefighters minutes to put out the blaze. Inside they found the body of Doug Jones.
Firefighters say that smoking was the cause of the fire.
Through an interpreter a neighbor said that he had been working on his computer and noticed the smell of smoke.
He then took matters into his own hands and went knocking on his neighbors doors to find the source of the smoke.
"He smelt it when he was about to turn off the computer. He was going to go to sleep, but smelled the smoke and then he got all of us. I think his friend broke down the door. Daniel another tenant tried to physically move him off the bed, but he was already on fire. We could not get him out," said tenant Rafael Alvarado.
Doug Jones' family showed up at the apartment Wednesday afternoon to see for themselves where their 58-year-old brother died. Jones had eight brothers and sisters, two kids and he was a grandfather. While sorting through his things his family said that he will be sorely missed.
"As we were growing up my brother was basically an idol to me. It is hard to believe that this has happened," said Don Romero, victim's brother.
"He loved life. He really loved life so this is tragic. He could always make you laugh. This is tragic, very tragic," said Victoria Romero, victim's sister.
This is the second deadly house and apartment fire in the last two days in Southern California.
On Christmas day at around 7:00 p.m. a fire broke out at a home in the Athens area. The bodies of a 48-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman were found in a bedroom.
Firefighters say that a space heater that fell over may have been the cause of the fire.
The two people who died in the fire in Athens have not yet been identified.
The Red Cross has provided temporary housing for the eleven tenants who were displaced from the Westlake apartment fire.
