A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y. And W. And R? And L!?

Isn't it weird that words like fire and tile are sometimes (by that, I mean "in some dialects") disyllabic? I mean, some people—myself included—pronounce words like those (see "List 1" below) with two syllables.  Let me show you what I mean.  

Many dictionaries show that word fire is pronounced /fīr'/, but that's not how I say it; I usually say /fä'·yǝr/.  I think most people I know say it like that (with 2 syllables, I mean), which leads me to my point and question:  Where is the second syllable?  I had answered, "Perhaps on the E?", but I'd rebutted with, "The E is silent, though."  At this point I didn't—and don't—know where to go.  Given that the F and the I are part of the first syllable (and given that I do not mispronounce words) we are left with two possible explanations:

   1 – The silent E is allowed to take a syllable, even though it's silent.

   2 – The R carries the syllable.

The implications of the latter option?  In the word fire, R is a vowel!  

This whole journey is moot, however, when considering the Rs and Ls of the words in List 2.

 List 1 – Words whose -ile or -ire I pronounce disyllabically.
   fire
   hire
   mile
   pile
   sire
   tile
   tire
   wire

 List 2 – Words whose -ile or -ire I pronounce monosyllabically.
   dire
   file
   gentile
   ire
   mire
   rile
   vile

P.S.  What do you think of the homophones Isle, Aisle, and I'll (all either /īl'/ or /ä'·yǝl/)?