I think it's more to the ingredient contained in the tobacco smoke compared to what's contained in the smoke produced by charcoal and firewoods. There are roughly 7000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, 250 are harmful and among those 250, 69 are considered carcinogenic.

If we are talking about hookah, then one of the factors at play is the pattern of inhalation compared to people who are simply light up their charcoal/firewoods for BBQ. According to CDC, people who smoke hookah are exposed to at least the same risk of developing cancer as smoking cigarettes though some articles might suggest the former to be much dangerous than the latter.