Minneapolis firefighters responded to a 50-gallon diesel spill Saturday on Interstate 94.

Fire Chief Bryan Tyner said his crew used sand to keep the fuel from entering the sewer drains after the spill was reported around noon. A semitrailer truck with a hole in its fuel tank leaked while traveling north on I-94.

The fuel spilled from Dowling Avenue N. to the 49th and 53rd Ave. N. exit ramp, which was temporarily closed during cleanup.

Officials with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the trucking company are responsible for cleaning up the spill, which firefighters contained Saturday.

"Our role is to just kind of control the spill and make sure it didn't get into the sewer system," Tyner said.

Tyner said firefighters have buckets of sand on hand to absorb fuel spills, and they build a dam with sand bags to cover sewer holes.

"They don't happen often but they do happen," he said of diesel spills, adding that he heard the clean up went well, but some fuel may have gotten into the sewer system.

"We were able to prevent the vast majority from getting down there," he said.

PCA spokeswoman Andrea Cournoyer said a minimal amount of diesel went into the catch basin and was recovered by a contractor hired by the trucking company.

"It appears as though there was nothing that made its way into any sewer or other waterway," she said.

MnDOT is following up on the spill with its environmental staff and they will be in touch with the PCA, Cournoyer said.