Search for 6 missing after Annapolis mansion fire could take days

The 16,000-square-foot waterfront mansion house belonged to executive Don Pyle, chief operating officer for ScienceLogic, company spokesman Antonio Piraino said.

Pyle was believed to have been at home with his wife, Sandy, and four grandchildren.

The sheer size of the structure and the fact that three-fourths of the building had collapsed into the basement, with piles of deep-seeded debris still smoldering, compounded the search, said Anne Arundel County Fire Capt. Robert Howarth, who is leading the investigation along with a team from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Pyle told the newspaper he eventually moved from sales to sales management to general management positions. In 1992, the company went public and was sold to Cisco Systems five years later for $4.2 billion, according to the Post.

CNN’s Ralph Ellis, Shimon Prokupecz and Lindy Royce contributed to this report

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