I do think lighter fluid is great stuff in one sense: have you seen the awesomely dangerous stuff people do with it and post on Youtube? You can waste a ton of time getting caught up watching morons making huge fires.
Derek, you might do a test run with more charcoal, that might be it. I have noticed that a stray lit coal that rolls off into the corner away from the pile will sometime go out if left there. Not that kettles have corners.