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If you wanted to do a charcoal grill, but have the coals get going more quickly, you could get a chimney starter. I got one for the Girl Scouts for when we go camping and they work like a charm! You put the chimney in the grill, put the coals in the cylinder, light it from below, and the air coming in through the holes in the bottom goes up and around the coals and they burn more quickly. When they're glowing, you dump them out into the grill, and you're ready to cook! They do get going much more quickly than piling them up in the grill and starting them that way.

There's one at amazon.com for $11.99, and they last a long time! You might be able to find one used, or see if the Farm Store has them. One of the leaders has one she's used for years! Here's a picture of the Weber brand one I linked to above.

I think I've seen those. Do you still use lighter fluid and all, or does it eliminate the need for that?

The electric thingie OT posted is intriguing...but I've never seen one and I don't think I have any outlets back there. The chimney starter could be pretty simple...

And the bit of my Mom in me is saying "Charcoal doesn't explode - propane does!" It probably doesn't, but she was terrified of fire for some reason. We didn't really even have a regular grill for the most part, and when I got a portable one I could bring out there, she had us use it about thirty feet from the house.