Fire Exits

So I am was walking in school the other day and saw a fire exit sign glowing red. So I don't understand this. All my life, I have been told the following

• If you are in a fire, get on your hands and knees to avoid smoke
• Smoke Kills, not the heat of the fire
• Smoke Rises
• Follow the exit signs to safety
• The Smoke is so thick that you won't be able to recognize your own house.

So what I don't understand is why are the fire exits on the ceiling? Fire starts, and you get on your hands and knees as the building / room begins to fill with smoke. You look frantically for the fire exits but don't see them.. So you can A hope for the best and try to find your own way out, or B stand up and search for a fire exit and pray you see it before you die from heat or smoke. Not to mention, God forbid you are in a building without lit fire exit signs, you just get the old school painted ones...

Seems like to me that the signs should be closer waist level or better yet embedded on the ground. Or we can use light strips on the ground like the plane has. Just doesn't make sense to me.


-Me