Oregon’s getting better at preventing and responding to wildfires, experts said, but much more still needs to be done. A panel of University of Oregon professors who study climate change, smoke and wildfire discussed the 2024 wildfire season. Wildfire risk in the West and in Oregon this year is not abnormally higher than in recent years, said Daniel Gavin, a professor in the geography department who specializes in the study of climate change impacts and fires on ecosystems over time. …Fortunately, the number of cameras monitoring high risk areas around the state have grown from several hundred to roughly 1,200, said Doug Toomey, a professor who also leads a regional partnership for wildfire prevention and monitoring. And communities across Oregon and the West are improving communication systems for evacuations, said Amanda Stasiewicz, a social scientist focusing on policy and human impacts of wildfire, as well as forest and rangeland management.