The search for six people who went missing when their mansion in Annapolis, Maryland was gutted down by fire could take days. 

Fire officials say search and rescue had been difficult as much of the structure had collapsed.  Smoke drifted up from the mountain of debris that's still smoldering Tuesday morning.

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Federal rescue teams with special heavy equipment have been deployed to help excavate destroyed structures. 

"We have some very unique challenges with this house," Anne Arundel County Fire Capt. Robert Howarth said. "The construction of the house contained a lot of very heavy materials. We're looking at some steel beams that weigh in the area of 7 tons," he added.

The16,000 square-foot mansion that burned to the ground in on Monday was owned by cybersecurity executive Donald Pyle.  Pyle, his wife Sandra and their four grandchildren were believed to have been at home at the time of the incident. 

Firefighters responded to the 3:30am alarm, which detected smoke signals from the home along Child's Point Road. The blaze reached fourth alarm.  Firefighters had to use trucks and fire boats to pump water from the creek, as there were no fire hydrants installed nearby.

State property records showed, the mansion is assessed for $6.3 million. Neighbors call it "The Castle" for its stone walls and towers.  One of Pyle's neighbors, Tom Gay, had some good words for the family. "The Pyles themselves are great people. They had a lot of fundraisers for worthy causes." Gay said. Neighbor Caroline Wugofski described the Pyles as 'genuinely nice people.'

Some friends even placed teddy bears and offered flowers outside the home.

Pyle's Reston-based cybersecurity company provided services for both private and government agencies including the Pentagon.  It recently launched a partnership with L-3 Data Tactics of McLean to bring data monitoring to the U.S. Intelligence community. 

Reports say, the Pyle family was preparing to go on a trip out of town before the incident happened. 

Tagsfire, Maryland, child's point road